The New Kids in Town
by Akikazemoon
Summary: Almost all of the survivors have been killed off. What's an Infected to do? Well, the big city is about to get a few new Special Infected, and they're going to turn life there upside down. Has a few OCs and pairings. No longer accepting OCs!
1. The New Girl

Hey, everyone! This is my newest story! I'm just really getting into Left 4 Dead 2, lately, and I wanted to make this cause I like the Special Infected. XD Either way, I made an OC Special Infected. :D I'm accepting up to four other OCs, so if you want to submit yours put the description in the comments, or PM me with it. The chart for the description can be found after the chapter. ^^ Anyway, enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way shape or form whatsoever. The only thing I own is the plot of this story and my OC.

…...

It was a warm afternoon, and Hunter was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, looking for any survivors that might be wandering around. He knew that he probably wouldn't find anyone, since most of the survivors had all either been infected or torn to shreds by now, but still, he had nothing better to do. It was what Smoker and Boomer were doing, anyway, and Hunter knew that once they were set on doing something, he couldn't change their mind. So, he went with the mindset: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So, that was how he had come to be hopping around the buildings, which in itself was fairly entertaining anyway. He stopped on the corner of a rooftop to sniff around a bit. Maybe he would be able to smell if there was a survivor around…

"Hm?" he noticed something different. There was a new scent wafting through the air. One he had never smelled before. "Maybe there IS a survivor around!" He grinned, hoping that he would get a chance to tear some guts out, then jumped down into the alleyway below where he had smelled the scent coming from. He paused, down on all fours, looking at the figure that was further down the alley. Whoever they were, they were just sitting there on the ground.

_Is it another Infected?_ he thought. _I mean, you'd think that the survivors would be more careful about where they sit…_ He approached carefully, not wanting to get himself into a mess he couldn't get out of. He sniffed the air again. Maybe he could tell who this was if he just tried really hard…He continued to approach, very slowly, sniffing as he went. He carefully reached out a hand, about to touch this new being that had appeared when suddenly it burst out laughing. Hunter pulled back quickly, growling in surprise.

"Wh-Wh-ahahahahaha! Why are you sniffing me?" the girl turned around to face him. Hunter could tell that she was an Infected. Her hair was partially covering her eyes, but he could still seem them glowing through her bangs. Not only that, but she had deathly pale skin, just like himself, and she was spattered with blood. Other than that, she looked almost human…just like he did. Still, she wasn't like the Common Infected, she was just…different somehow. He couldn't quite figure out what it was, though. He took notice of the gray hoodie jacket she was wearing, and so he decided that he wouldn't be ripping out any guts today. This girl had at least a good sense in fashion. Still, he had to be careful.

"Are you some kind of girl Jockey?" he asked, backing up and watching her warily. He did NOT want to wrapped up with one of those face humping freaks.

"J-Jockey?" she asked, seeming unable to stop laughing for some reason. "No way! I would never-ehehehehe-want to be one of those humping weirdos! Ahahahaha!" Hunter was a bit surprised. Finally! Someone who agreed with him!

"So…if you're not a Jockey, then what are you?" he asked, risking taking a step closer.

"T-T-ahahahahahaha!" she broke out into laughing again, and Hunter waited, somewhat impatiently for her to finish. "I'm a Taunter-ehehehe…"

"Taunter? So, you…taunt things? By laughing at them?" Hunter asked. He had never seen this kind of Special Infected before. Sure, he had seen a lot of Hunters, Smokers, Boomers, Tanks, Witches, and all those guys, but Taunter? Never heard of 'em.

"Y-Yeah, sorry," she said, trying to suppress laughs as she spoke. "You see, I can't stop laughing at all! Funny, huh?"

"I guess it is," Hunter said slowly as Taunter broke out into laughter again. "Uhh…so, where did you come from, anyway? I've never seen you around here before."

"W-eheehehe…We came from the next town over," Taunter told him. "Chasing some-ehehe…survivors…"

"There are survivors here?" Hunter asked in surprise. "We haven't seen any in more than two weeks! Are you saying that you chased some survivors into this city?"

"Uh-huh," Taunter nodded, breaking out into a grin.

"YES!" he shouted, unable to contain his excitement over this new discovery. "We get to go after survivors again! Just wait 'til I tell everybody else!"

"Everyone else?" Taunter asked him, clearing her throat as she tried to stop laughing. "Who's that?" Hunter paused, wondering whether or not he should bring this girl back to meet his group. They had been together for a while now, always working together to try to get the survivors that passed through. Each of them was a different kind of Special Infected, and they tried to play on each other's strengths. Since they had all been together for so long, though, he wasn't sure if he could just bring this girl back to meet them.

"Hey, you," Hunter said, coming a bit closer. "Do you like killing survivors?"

"Huh? Sure, of course!" she replied, laughing at the end. "I mean, who DOESN'T love killing survivors?"

"Do you have any skills? Er, besides laughing your face off?" Hunter asked.

"Well, I can a-ahahahaha! I can alert the horde by laughing, I guess," she answered.

"Anything else?"

"Well, I don't know," she shrugged, giggling in a bit of a creepy way. "I mean, the stupid Common Infected always bunched up so much that I never really got to fight. Though I guess I'd make a good distraction." She broke out into another smile. "What can YOU do?"

"I…uh…jump on stuff…I guess," he replied slowly.

"…Ahahahahaha!" she began laughing again, and he seemed a bit insulted, trying to figure out whether she was laughing at him or just because she couldn't help it. "Isn't that just like a Jockey?"

"Ugh, no way!" Hunter said quickly. "I'm NOT like a Jockey! I can jump really far and I can pull people's freaking guts out with my bare hands! I don't hump their faces like those Jockey freaks!"

"Good, good," Taunter said, her laughing calming down a bit. "Don't worry, I probably won't laugh as much now. It's more of a defense mechanism."

"How does laughing defend you at all?" Hunter asked her bluntly.

"I…have no idea," she said, this time laughing for real. "So, what were you talking about when you said that you had to tell everyone else?"

"Well, there's a few others who are basically my friends," Hunter shrugged. "I guess. I mean, we hang out and stuff and team up on survivors." He then realized something. "Oh. Hey. You said that you chased some survivors into town, but you said that 'we' chased them in. Who's 'we' besides you?"

"I guess that I have some people who are sorta my friends," she smirked, imitating what he had previously said. "They came too. But we got separated when a huge horde came after some Boomer barf lying in the middle of the road."

"So…do you want to come back to our place?" Hunter asked, starting to trust Taunter. She seemed pretty cool.

"Where is it?" Taunter asked.

"Across town," Hunter replied. "And you'll have to come across the rooftops with me if you don't want to be trampled by the random hordes running around."

"Okay, I guess I'll try," Taunter stood up and started to follow him, seeming to have a bit of a limp when she walked. Hunter took a step back in preparation, then launched himself up to the roof without any difficulty.

"Alright, come on," he called down to her. She looked up at him dully.

"I can't jump that high, smart one!" she called up to him. Hunter sighed in exasperation, realizing that she was right.

"Use the fire escape, then," he said, waiting at the edge of the roof for her. She looked around, found the ladder for the fire escape, then managed to pull herself up with a little difficulty. She climbed up the stairs, seeming a bit irritated.

"Next time, you're carrying me, hoodie boy!" she shouted up to him in a somewhat joking voice.

"The name's Hunter," he replied to her. Finally, she reached the rooftop, and he tried to be patient as they crossed over to the other edge.

"Okay, now, you just jump, like this!" he ran forward, then jumped off the roof, landing on the next one with perfect accuracy.

"I can't do that!" Taunter shouted after him incredulously. "Sure, I can run pretty fast if I try, but I can't do crazy jumps like you!" Hunter rolled his eyes, though he knew that she wouldn't see it because of the shadow created by his hoodie. He jumped back over to the rooftop where she stood, and tried to think of what to do.

"Fine, I'll carry you," he said after a while, seeming a bit embarrassed that he had to do this. "But I'm not as good at jumping when I've only got two legs." Before she could object, he scooped her up, jumping off the roof and hoping with all his might that he would be able to make it to the next one. They touched down onto the next roof, and Hunter continued at a sprint, launching off to the next one.

"We're so high up!" Taunter had started her laughing again. "Oh, geez!"

"Are you scared of heights?" he asked as he ran across the third roof.

"Y-Yes!" she answered, unable to stop laughing once again.

"Great," he said sarcastically, a small smile flitting across his face as he jumped to the fourth roof. "This is going to be a loooong day…"

…...

So, how did you guys like it? Good? Bad? I sure hope that it's good. o_o; Anyway, I'd be glad to accept Infected OCs from you guys! I'll be accepting four other OCs, no more than that. First come, first served, so I'm sorry if you don't get in! D: There are just a few rules. First, they have to be a Special Infected. No boring Common Infected. :P Next, they have to be a kind of Special Infected that you made up on your own. No stealing ideas from anyone. If you're thinking forever and still can't come up with anything, I GUESS that it's okay if you have an already existing Special Infected for your character. Just please try your hardest to come up with your own, first! Third, I WILL allow pairings, but not with already taken characters! Such as the fact that I've already taken Hunter since he's just full of awesome sauce. :P Survivors WOULD be okay with pairings, but this story is in the Left 4 Dead 2 world, so Francis, Zoey, Louis, and Bill aren't here. :o Here's the OC sheet, either PM it to me filled out or put it in a comment filled out:

Name:

Appearance:

Age (as in, how old they look):

Personality (I need a really detailed description here! Please include fears, tendencies, everything!):

Special Abilities/Traits (include not only what they can do, but also how they attack the survivors):

Past (as in, an explanation from their past as to why they became the kind of Infected that they did):

Likes:

Dislikes:

Crush (only if you want one):

Any other extra info about them:

If you need an example, here's one for my character, filled out already.

Name: Taunter

Appearance: Short-ish brown hair, bangs partially covering glowing gray eyes. Pale skin, bloodstains, all that other zombie stuff. Wears the slightly ripped up and worn out remains of denim jeans, a blue t-shirt, and a gray hoodie jacket that zips up the front.

Age: 17

Personality: Fairly friendly, and really gets along with people she knows well. She doesn't trust strangers very much, but warms up to people quickly. Uses sarcasm. A LOT. Can be a bit dense sometimes. Laughing, laughing, LOTS and lots of laughing. She's scared of heights and flaming Infected puke. Or pretty much anything that's on fire. Has a pretty upbeat attitude most of the time, but can be serious when she needs to be. Though she'll probably just end up laughing again…

Special Abilities/Traits: She has a defense mechanism that forces her to laugh whenever she feels like she's in danger. Once she feels more comfortable and safe, the laughing will calm down. She's a fast runner, but will usually walk everywhere because she's lazy. :P She's a fast runner, but isn't able to jump as well as the Hunter, usually resulting in her crashing into walls when Hunter wants her to jump up somewhere. She has a fairly good sense of smell, but once again, not nearly as good as Hunter. She at the moment doesn't have much experience fighting the survivors, but is able to call the horde over by laughing really loud. ._.

Past: Taunter, before she was infected, was the kind of person who would always laugh at people whenever anything bad happened to them. Thus, she is cursed with having to laugh whenever she's in danger. ._.

Likes: Her friends, creeping out survivors with crazy laughing, calling the horde on survivors, playing pranks on people, trying out new things, NOT going up into high places, and trying to find new ways to have fun, among other things.

Dislikes: Fire, heights, the smoke that constantly hangs around Smoker, the survivors shooting at her (well, duh), extreme boredom, the Common Infected, being near Boomer when he pukes, and a few other things as well.

Crush: Hunter :D (cause he's full of awesome sauce)

Extra Info: Even though she doesn't try to, she gets herself into trouble a lot. She also has trouble sneaking around when there are survivors nearby because she'll always end up laughing anyway.

So, send in your OCs if you're interested! I'm excited to see where this story will go! X3


	2. Meet the Gang

Well, here's chapter two! Lol that was pretty fast. We've got spaces for three OCs left! If you plan on putting yours in, you'd better hurry! So far, we've got one new OC, and I really hope that I got his character right! Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way shape or form! I only own the plot and Taunter. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam.

…...

"P-Put me-ahahaha-down!" Taunter shouted out as Hunter finally set foot onto the ground again. Hunter dropped her unceremoniously onto the ground, and she stood up, taking a few deep breaths and trying to calm her laughing. She paused a second, then looked up at him. "Remind me never to let you do that again." Hunter shrugged, then started heading into the alley.

"Hey! Smoker! Boomer! You guys here?" he called as he went further in.

"In here!" came a familiar gurgling voice.

"That's Boomer," Hunter said, turning back to Taunter for a moment. "Careful, he might puke on you."

"Great," Taunter said, rolling her eyes as she and Hunter entered the back of the alley. When they got back there, Taunter observed the scene. There was a Smoker to the right, smoking a cigarette of course. A Boomer was sitting on the left side, and perched on a mattress towards the back was what looked like a Hunter, but not exactly. His claws were definitely longer, but not as long as any Witch that she had ever seen. His hoodie was a camo pattern, and was unzipped to reveal a toned chest and a six pack of abs.

"Well," she said dully. "Hey there, shirtless guy."

"Hey," he responded, offering up a smile.

"Who…who is this guy who's sitting in my spot?" Hunter turned to Smoker, seeming a bit pissed.

"We found him and brought him over here," Smoker coughed. "Anything wrong with it? When did you pick up a girlfriend anyway?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Hunter objected, growling at the smoking infected. "And seriously, who is this guy? What kind of infected is he? Is he another Hunter?"

"I'm Sam," the new guy said. "Sam McLeon."

"…Sam?" Hunter asked questioningly. "That's a type of infected?"

"So, let's see…" Taunter said. "We've got a Hunter, a Smoker, a Boomer, a Taunter, and a…Sam."

"That's not a type of infected, it's my name," Sam told them.

"Oh, well gee, thanks, Cowboy Sam," Hunter said sarcastically, mocking the southern accent on Sam's voice.

"Come on, at least try to be friendly," Boomer sighed, gurgling a bit.

"You're just pissed because he's sitting in your seat," the one good side of Smoker's mouth turned up into a smirk.

"Hey, hey, no worries. It's fine," Sam said.

"He's replacing me, isn't he?" Hunter grumbled, taking a seat on the ground across from his previous seat. Taunter debated whether she would rather be closer to a tub of puke or a cloud of smoke, and she sat down in between Hunter and Boomer.

"So anyway, who's this?" Boomer asked, regarding Taunter.

"I'm Taunter," Taunter introduced herself.

"So, you taunt stuff?" Smoker asked, stating the obvious.

"That's what's great about infected names. They say what we do," Hunter said suddenly. "I hunt things, Smoker smokes a hell of a lot, Boomer explodes all his puke out if he gets shot, Taunter laughs at things…so, I guess that Sam here 'sams' things."

"Come on, at least try to be nice," Taunter frowned at Hunter, then turned to Sam. "I think that I might've seen you back in the other city. When did you get here?"

"Just a little while ago," Sam shrugged. "I was chasing some survivors, but I ran into a Witch and had to backtrack, so I lost 'em."

"Maybe we were chasing the same ones," Taunter said after a short pause. "Did you see the one with the baseball cap?"

"Yeah, I think so," Sam nodded. "Guess that we were chasing the same ones after all."

"Uh-huh. Very interesting," Hunter said, nodding. The group descended into a long silence.

"Heh…heh…awkward…" Taunter grinned a bit.

"You still haven't told us where you found this girl at," Smoker said to Hunter, coughing.

"I found her in an alley. I thought she was a survivor, then I thought she was a Jockey, but now she's just Taunter I guess," Hunter shrugged. "I brought her back here 'cause she just seems cool."

"Not because you have a little crush?" Boomer said jokingly.

"What? No!" Hunter shouted, trying his hardest not to pounce on Boomer and attack him. His puke would splatter everywhere if he did that anyways.

"Well, I dunno-" Smoker began to speak but was cut off when the sound of a car alarm suddenly resounded through the city. They all paused to listen for a moment as the noise of the horde echoed among the deserted buildings.

"It's…probably just Tank tossing cars around again," Boomer said, not bothering to get up to check.

"But what if it's a survivor?" Hunter asked, seeming somewhat eager. This might be the perfect chance for him to work off some steam.

"It's ALWAYS Tank tossing around cars, Hunter," Smoker said, pushing his finished cigarette down into the ground and opening the pack to get another. There was a sudden pounding of feet on the ground, and sure enough, Tank ran right past the alley.

"See? There he goes now," Smoker had justified his story.

"But the car alarm came from over there," Hunter said, pointing in opposite the direction that Tank had come from.

"There must be some survivors," Sam said, getting out of his sitting position, ready to go.

"Alright, let's go get them, let's go!" Taunter seemed excited as well.

"Guys, seriously…I don't feel like it," Smoker said bluntly.

"Our first survivors in WEEKS and you don't FEEL like it?" Hunter asked incredulously, getting up. "I don't care if you don't feel like it, Smoker, we're going!"

"Yeah, let's go!" Sam said, catching up to Hunter and Taunter as they went to the opening of the alley.

"Well…we'd better go make sure that they aren't trampled by the horde, I guess," Boomer stood up after a pause, following them as well. Smoker sighed, going into a fit of coughing.

"The things I do for these guys…" he complained, standing up and following as well.

"This way!" Hunter shouted, jumping up onto a building roof. He was a bit annoyed when Sam followed him up more than easily, but tried to keep his cool. Just keep focus on going forward, he told himself. Soon enough, they could hear gunshots, and they saw the horde swarming. They also saw Tank running off somewhere, having taken some heavy damages. Dead Common Infected were lying around everywhere, and the Specials running on the ground nearly tripped over them in their hurry to keep up with Hunter and Sam. Hunter jumped down from the roof once they were near the horde, and was further irritated when Sam managed to jump down farther than he had.

"So, what's the plan?" Taunter asked, watching as the Common Infected were continuously shot down by whoever was within the swarm.

"Hey, look!" Boomer said, being the tallest and able to see over the horde. "They're going out of the back, towards that safe room over there!"

"Oh no they don't!" Hunter growled, beginning to run around the horde in front of them.

"You've gotta be faster than that if you wanna catch 'em!" Sam called to him, jumping straight over the horde to Hunter's great dismay. He could have done that if he tried. Yeah. The two of them were almost to the safe room, as were the four people running in front of them, the big one cutting down any stray Commons he met with an axe.

"Get in, get inside, dammit!" the one wearing the white suit shouted, holding open the door. Sam had almost grabbed the girl as she went inside, but instead, the door was slammed in his face. He glowered at the closed door, knowing that they wouldn't be able to get in.

"You missed?" Hunter asked, coming over.

"Yeah," Sam said, still looking a bit upset.

"Well…" Hunter desperately wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but he decided that it would probably be better if he didn't. "You tried, anyway."

"Did you get them?" came a call from Taunter as she, Boomer, and Smoker approached.

"Nope, they got inside," Sam shook his head. "I was so close, too!" The Common Infected from the horde that had gathered was slowly beginning to dissipate.

"Well, at least we know that they're here now," Smoker shrugged. "Let's go back."

"Ugh…guys, I don't feel so good…" Boomer said suddenly.

"What? It's nothing that a big guy like you can't handle," Taunter grinned, giving Boomer's belly a friendly punch. Hunter's eyes widened, though no one could see them.

"Oh, great," Smoker moved off to the side as Boomer started gurgling even more than before.

"That…was…ahahaha…stupid, wasn't it?" Taunter asked, backing up and coming in between Sam and Hunter.

"Yeah," Hunter said quickly. Before any of them could move, Boomer was spewing out puke, the green stuff getting all over all three of them.

"What the-?" Sam said in surprise and disgust, looking down at himself.

"Eww!" Taunter shouted, laughing uncontrollably.

"Ugh. Nasty," Hunter shook a bit off his hand, then looked up. To his horror, he saw that all of the Common Infected still milling around were looking right at them.

"Oh, shit…" he said, realizing their situation.

"Are we screwed?" Taunter asked, a smile flitting across her face nervously.

"Yeah. We're screwed," Hunter nodded.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna run like hell!" Sam shouted, jumping up onto a building roof as the horde began running at them.

"Crap," Hunter began to run forward towards a building, only to realize that they had left the wildly laughing Taunter still trying to get through the random piles of bodies on the ground.

"Let's go!" he said, running back and picking her up again.

"Wait, wait I said that I don't like height-" Taunter couldn't stop Hunter as he made a leap for the building roof…and missed, both of them crashing right into the wall. They fell, and luckily landed on the fire escape.

"Oh, God…" Hunter grumbled, rubbing his neck. "I told you that I can't jump with only two legs!"

"Ahaha…hah…are we safe?" Taunter asked, glancing down at the Common Infected as they ran around, trying to find a way to get up to where they were.

"I think so," Hunter nodded. "But geez, it's going to take for freaking ever to wash this stuff off!"

"Sorry," Boomer called up to them as he and Smoker approached the building, pushing through the Common Infected.

"Well, how are you two lovebirds doing?" Smoker smirked up at Hunter and Taunter.

"I swear to God, Smoker-" Hunter growled.

"Nah, I think he's about right," Sam said, grinning down at them from the roof. Taunter started laughing again, and Hunter glared at both Sam and Smoker in turn.

"Let's just go back before Tank trashes the place again," Hunter growled, jumping up onto the roof.

"Hang on, what about me?" Taunter asked.

"Well, Boomer got us into this, so HE can carry you!" Hunter said, deliberately shooting a glare down at Boomer. "We'll see just how fast he is."

"He just doesn't want to be caught carrying her again," Smoker snickered.

"I heard that!" Hunter shouted down to him. "And I am not!"

"Then why are you being so defensive?"

"I'm not being defensive!"

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yeah, I think you are."

"I think that we should just go back before I freaking tear that tongue out of your mouth," Hunter turned to go quickly. "Come on, let's go!"

"Uh…okay…I'm coming down now, then…" Taunter said hesitantly, starting to come down the ladder. "You'd better be ready, Boomer."

"Coming," Boomer said, going over to help. Smoker smirked to himself as he saw Hunter beginning to leave while Sam and Boomer stopped to help Taunter.

"Teens these days," he laughed to himself as he lit another cigarette with the lighter he had taken off the body of a survivor. "They never change."

…...

Lol I like the personality that I gave Smoker. XD And Boomer seems too nice for his own good. :P What will happen next chapter? Stay tuned to find out! :D


	3. Another New Addition

Hey there, everyone! We've gotten a new OC in our cast! :D Yaaaay! Anyway, I hope that you guys are liking the story. ^^ We only have two OC positions left, so if you want in, act fast! Enjoy the chapter! X3

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC and the plot! Sam belongs to Commander of the Rabbids. Calli belongs to Sorrowsnow.

…...

"Geez, I thought we'd never get rid of those guys," Taunter complained as Boomer set her back down onto the ground. "Stupid Commons."

"Are we almost back to that alley of yours?" Sam asked, having decided to hang back with the group as they lagged behind.

"Yeah, almost," Smoker nodded. Suddenly, from that very alley, they heard a screaming so loud that it could have probably alerted people halfway around the world.

"What is he screaming about this time?" Boomer asked, regarding Hunter.

"Only one way to find out, right?" Taunter shrugged, and the four of them continued over to the alley, and looked in to see Hunter looking around incredulously. They themselves were surprised when they took a look around.

"What is this?" Hunter shouted, waving his hands at the red and blue spray paint all over the back and side walls. "Who the hell messed up our hang out?"

"Why would someone do this anyway?" Smoker pondered, glancing at the now brightly colored walls, coughing a bit. "I mean, and who would do it anyway?"

"I don't care who did it!" Hunter turned around, obviously annoyed. "I'm gonna rip their guts out!"

"What is it with you and the constant gut ripping?" Boomer questioned him.

"At least it's not so boring anymore," Taunter said, taking a look around. "I mean, we could use a little color, I guess."

"I liked it the way it used to be," Hunter grumbled, still searching for the culprit. "And look, they even got paint on my mattress!"

"Do you have issues with people touching that thing?" Sam wondered aloud. Hunter paused, unsure of how he should respond.

"What?" he said after a pause. "It's mine."

"I actually think it looks pretty nice," came a shout from up high somewhere. All of them looked upwards to see another Smoker sitting on the fire escape. Except, this one was a girl, with long brown hair and icy blue eyes. She probably would have looked a bit threatening if it weren't for the smile flashing on one side of her face and the paint splattering what was left of her worn out clothes.

"Did you do this?" Hunter shouted up to her. "I swear, I'm going to tear your freaking tongue out!"

"Do you say that to every Smoker around here?" Smoker asked, taking his cigarette out of his mouth and blowing out a little smoke.

"Well, it's true," Hunter faced him for a second, then looked up at the newest infected to appear. "I'm serious, get rid of this paint right now."

"It looks like Hunt-y there has no sense in good artistry!" the girl called down with a grin.

"Alright, that's it, the tongue's coming out!" Hunter shouted, about to jump up at her, but Boomer grabbed him.

"Would you quit trying to tear stuff out of people?" Boomer asked, trying to keep Hunter on the ground.

"She deserves it! I'm serious! Just this once!" Hunter said, trying to get away.

"Hey, do I know you?" Taunter called up to the new Smoker they had encountered. "I'm not laughing at all, so I'm guessing that I saw you somewhere back in the other city."

"Uhh…maybe?" the new girl said, a bit confused about the laughing thing.

"What's your name?"

"Calli."

"Oh, great, another one with an immune name," Hunter rolled his eyes, calming down a bit so that he could get away from Boomer. He didn't want to be barfed on again. "Okay, okay, you can come down, paint girl. I'll try NOT to tear your tongue out, I guess…but only if you get rid of the paint."

"It's not just paint, it's art!" Calli corrected him as she climbed down the fire escape ladder. "And plus, if you knew anything about spray paint, you'd know that I couldn't get it off even if I wanted to." Calli smirked at Hunter smugly while he fumed, trying to restrain himself from attacking her.

"Well, then, what are we gonna do about it?" Hunter asked, turning to the others, who all shrugged.

"Hey, shouldn't we go get some more mattresses or something?" Taunter asked after a second. "Now that there's six of us and everything."

"Six?" Hunter stopped for a second. "Hey, I never said that Calli could join too! I've got enough problems with Sam, here."

"Could you be nice to Sam for once?" Taunter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, seriously. Talk about a jerk," Calli said, snickering. "Is yelling at people your profession or something?"

"Ah, forget it," Hunter said, jumping up to the fire escape, then up to the opposite roof. "I'm going to be up here until she leaves."

"Not this again…" Smoker sighed.

"What's with him?" Calli grinned, glancing up at the roof where Hunter had disappeared.

"He just doesn't like new stuff," Smoker replied. "He was the same way when Boomer first came. Then with Sam, too."

"That's weird," Taunter piped up. "He seemed fine with bringing me here." There was a short silence.

"Well, I'm pretty sure he has a reason for that," Smoker nodded. "And I think that most of us have figured it out by now."

"Figured what out?" Taunter asked, not understanding what he meant.

"I can hear everything you're saying!" Hunter shouted, looking down over the side of the roof. "I mean it when I say that you'll be in deep shit if you keep saying that, Smoker!" Smoker let out a few coughing laughs, lighting another cigarette.

"Hormones have got the best of him," he said quietly, smirking.

"Did you just say something bad?" Hunter asked, not having heard that one.

"I said that there's a Jockey behind you," Smoker called up.

"A Jockey-?" Hunter turned around in surprise, then turned back with a glare on his face. "Ha ha, very funny."

"You're scared of Jockeys?" Calli called up to him.

"No, he just doesn't want them humping his face, apparently," Boomer answered before Hunter could say anything.

"I could agree with that," Sam nodded.

"Well then, I guess that that's one thing we can come to terms on, huh, Sam?" Hunter asked before going back onto the roof.

"Sooo, introductions?" Calli asked. "You know my name. Who are all you guys?"

"Taunter."

"Call me Smoker."

"I'm Sam."

"And I'm Boomer."

"Oh, so you remember your name from before you got infected?" Calli asked, regarding Sam.

"Well, yeah," Sam replied. "Do you remember, too?"

"No, I just made up this name cause it sounded cool," Calli grinned. "But hey, this alley place you've got here isn't half bad! I kinda like it! Can I hang here with you guys?"

"Sure," Smoker replied. "I don't see anyone who would vote against it."

"A-HEM," Hunter cleared his throat loudly, now looking over the side of the roof again. There was a short pause.

"Well, no one who would vote against it who's vote counts, anyway," Smoker added.

"Oh, God dammit, Smoker!" Hunter said, irritated.

"Remember, I found this place, Hunter," Smoker called up to him as he attempted to throw down the angriest glare he could muster. "It's like owning a house. You live here, you're under my rules!"

"God, you sound like my mom," Hunter grumbled, sitting and crossing his arms in annoyance. "You know, before she got all infected and crazy and stuff."

"Whatever," Smoker shrugged off the comment. "I say who stays, and I'm saying that Calli can stay."

"…Fine," came a quiet reply from Hunter. "But if she sprays paint on my mattress one more time, I'm gonna-"

"Yeah, yeah, tongue ripping, all that stuff," Calli cut him off. "Very nice." Once Hunter wasn't looking, she grinned, pulling out one of the cans of spray paint from her belt and spraying it onto the corner of the beaten up mattress.

"Hey!" Hunter shouted, having heard the spraying and looked over. He saw everyone standing just as they had been.

"Getting paranoid, hoodie guy?" Calli smirked up at him.

"He might just hate her more than he hates me," Sam grinned with a chuckle.

"He'll warm up to you after he gets some time to know you," Boomer told him. "It might take a while, though."

"So, why don't we go find those extra mattresses now?" Taunter asked. "We're all going to need somewhere to sit, right?"

"Yeah, let's look in that apartment over there," Calli said, pointing to the building across the street.

"If only Tank was around to help us carry them," Smoker muttered, following them as they walked over.

"Are you going to stay up there?" Boomer asked, the last one to leave the alley.

"Yeah, I'm going to stay up here," Hunter replied.

"Okay, suit yourself," Boomer waved, then caught up with the others. Hunter waited until all of them were inside the building, then jumped down into the alley.

"Stupid paint…" he grumbled, looking at the mattress in front of him. He paused, then grabbed the mattress and flipped it over with a bit of difficulty. The underside was a bit dirty, but paint-free.

"Much better," he smiled to himself. He suddenly heard the noise of sobbing nearby, and lifted his guard.

"Witch? Is that you?" he called. There was a growl and a high pitched scream, and Hunter knew he had been right. He turned off into another alley, finding Witch sitting there. "You're still crying?"

"Ha ha!" she said, her eyes full of tears. "Very funny. What are you doing by yourself anyway? Where are Smoker and Boomer?"

"Moving in the newbies," Hunter answered.

"Newbies?" Witch asked surprised. "I'm not ready to meet anyone new yet! I-I have to go get ready!" She stood up, and stumbled as fast as she could possibly go with her cumbersome claws scraping everywhere into a different alley, still crying.

"Okaaaay," Hunter said slowly, staring to go back to his group's alley. He sat down onto his mattress, knowing that there was little to do but wait for the others to get back. He thought about the three new infected for a second. "Man. Life around here is about to change. Big time."

…...

Alright, now, I think that I should probably tell you the ages of the Special Infected that aren't OCs in this story. XD Hunter is basically 18 or 19, Smoker is 25, Boomer is 23, Tank is 26, and Witch is 17. As for the OCs, Taunter is 17, Sam is 19, and Calli is 16. Be looking forward to the next chapter! X3 I'll start the next one once we get a new OC, and if we don't a new one in three days or less, I'll just go ahead with the OCs that we already have. :3 See ya next chapter, guys! XD


	4. Is This Even Edible?

Well, we've received all of our OCs! I know that I was originally only going to accept five, but when there was only one space left, I got three requests at once, and I didn't have the heart to say "no" to two of them…I'm such a pushover. _ So, now we're going to have seven OCs in total, and I'm not accepting any more. Congrats to those of you who got in! The rest of you guys who don't show up in this chapter will be showing up in the next one or the one after that! Thanks for your support, and enjoy the chapter! X3

Edit: Omg I was just notified of a HUUUGE typo in here! D: Thanks for the heads up! D: I really need to stop writing these things at one in the morning…

Disclaimer: I still don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form. I only own my OC and the plot. Sam belongs to Commander of the Rabbids. Calli belongs to Sorrowsnow. Jeffry belongs to Zipper Whippersnapper.

…...

"Hey there, big guy," Boomer greeted as Tank walked grumpily into the alley. "What took you so long?"

"Got shot up by some survivors," Tank replied gruffly. Taunter, Hunter, Sam, and Calli broke out into snickers at what he said. "You know what I meant! They almost killed me!"

"Well, that's what you get for just running in there," Smoker shrugged.

"Who are all these guys?" Tank asked, looking at the newcomers.

"We're the new guys," Taunter said, laughing a bit under her breath. "Who're you?"

"That's Tank," Hunter told her. "He may look big and scary, but he's a real pushover."

"Yeah, I'll show you pushover," Tank grumbled as he sat down.

"Anyway, my name is Taunter," Taunter turned to Tank.

"And I'm Sam," Sam added.

"Calli," Calli waved.

"Anyone else around here that we need to meet?" Taunter asked Hunter.

"Just Witch. But she ran off somewhere crying. As usual," Hunter shrugged. Smoker was about to take another cigarette out of the pack he was carrying when he realized that he was empty. He sighed in annoyance, coughed a bit, then stood up.

"I'm going to get some more," he told them, tossing the empty box onto the ground and going into the hollow doorway just around the corner from their alley. It was the main place that they put anything that they thought that they might need later. It was also where they stashed everything that they thought that survivors might need. They hoarded it so that none of the survivors who came could get it.

"I'm glad that we got these new mattresses," Calli said, bouncing on hers a bit. "It's a lot more comfy than the ground. And I can paint THIS one all I want!"

"Good thing that the alley's big enough," Hunter commented blandly.

"Hey, guys?" Smoker called from inside the room.

"Smoker, if you ran out of cigarettes, you're going to that old drug store by yourself," Hunter told him.

"It's not that," Smoker replied. "I found something."

"Is it a survivor?" Hunter jumped up in excitement, and Sam prepared to get going if he had to.

"No," Smoker told them. Hunter and Sam looked disappointed, sitting back down. "It's another infected."

"What kind?" Boomer asked.

"I…uh…I have no clue," Smoker said, walking outside. "But whatever it is, he seems to like it in there." The others got up, wondering just who it was that was in there. Upon looking in, they saw a young infected happily sitting in the corner, messing around with some sort of shiny object. He had scruffy dark blonde hair, and the regular sort of pupil-less and iris-less infected eyes. He wore the remains of blue jeans and a white shirt, along with mukluk type shoes. He seemed fairly easily entertained by the object in his hands, and was engrossed in what he was doing.

"Who is this kid?" Hunter asked, looking up at Smoker.

"How should I know?" Smoker replied, pulling out a new cigarette.

"We'll handle this," Taunter said, pulling Calli inside with her. "This is a girl thing."

"What do you mean, it's a girl thing?" Hunter asked.

"I think that she thinks that since you're getting mad at every new person, that you're going to get mad at him," Sam explained. "I don't know, that's just what I'm guessing."

"Oh. Great."

"Hi," Taunter smiled, approaching the newly found infected slowly. "Are you friendly?" He seemed to look up at her quickly in acknowledgement, but then went back to what he was doing.

"I'm Calli," Calli told him. "What's your name?"

"Jeffrey," he replied, able to pull his attention away from the shiny piece of metal for a moment. "Who are the rest of you guys?"

"Who, them?" Taunter turned back to the guys for a moment. "Oh, don't pay attention to them."

"Gee, thanks," Hunter rolled his eyes, heading back towards the alley.

"Hey, no offense!" Taunter said quick, then turned back to Jeffrey. "So, Jeffie, where did you come from?"

"I came from another city," he told her. "One of the survivors took something from me, and I wanted to get it back."

"What'd they steal from you?" Calli asked.

"The other half of this," he showed her the shiny piece of metal in his hand. "Did you see any survivors run through here?"

"Yeah, we almost caught some earlier," Sam called from the doorway. "But they got into the safe room."

"Oh. Maybe they're the ones that I'm looking for,"

"Yeah, maybe."

"Do you wanna come outside with us?" Calli asked.

"I sort of like it in here," Jeffrey shrugged. The two girl infected turned to look at the guys back inside the doorframe for a moment, then turned back to Jeffrey.

"Is Tank freaking you out?" Taunter asked bluntly.

"Frankly, I'd think that he'd freak anyone out," Smoker blew out a plume of smoke.

"Hey," Tank seemed annoyed, but didn't do anything.

"No, I just like being inside," Jeffrey told them.

"Oh…uh, are you sure? It's pretty nice out," Taunter said, motioning out the door.

"No, I'm fine in here. But thanks anyway."

"Well…uh…" Taunter paused, and she and Calli walked back over to the others. "We're going to need someone to stay in here and watch him."

"Not me," Sam and Taunter said quickly, almost at the same time.

"Me either," Calli said quickly, so not to be chosen.

"I'm not that good with kids," Tank said.

"No thanks," Smoker put in his bit. All eyes turned to Boomer.

"Sure, I'll stay here and watch him," Boomer gave a little smile. "Maybe he'll come out later."

"Oh, before you go," Jeffry called from across the room. "I'm kind of hungry. Do you guys have any food?"

"Uh…do we have any food?" Smoker wondered aloud. "Hey, Hunter! Do we have any food?"

"Any good food? No," Hunter called back. "It looks like we're going to have to eat that crap from the abandoned grocery store again."

"Oh, wonderful."

"Don't worry, we'll bring you back some food," Taunter said, walking over to Jeffry and patting him on the head. She wasn't really sure why she did it, but she vaguely remembered doing it before she was infected, so, what the heck. Jeffry smiled happily up to her, seeming to like it.

"Alright, let's go! To the grocery store!" Calli called, leading the way out into the alley. "You're going to show us where it is, right, Hunter?"

"I went last time," Hunter said, not bothering to get up.

"Well, it's Boomer's turn, but he's busy," Smoker remarked.

"So why don't you go?"

"Cause I don't feel like it."

"You never feel like anything!"

"Let's just go to the store. It won't take that long, right?" Sam said to Hunter as he, Taunter, and Calli went to the opening of the alley.

"Fine, fine, sheesh," Hunter got up, joining them. "I guess I'll lead you there, just don't fall behind." He and Sam were off in a flash, and Taunter and Calli found it difficult to catch up.

"Could you wait for a minute?" Taunter shouted after them. "Remember? Can't jump!" Soon enough, they had reached the store. Hunter and Sam climbed through the broken windows in the front, and Taunter and Calli went through the broken sliding door.

"Bon appetit," Hunter said sarcastically, grabbing the first bag of food he saw and tossing it at Taunter.

"So, this is the stuff we ate before we got infected?" Taunter asked, looking at what she held in her hands. It was some sort of bread, but it looked like it was swirled with cinnamon. "I can't even remember eating this stuff."

"Hey, we can use this to bring it all back!" Calli said, having discovered a shopping cart and pushed it over by grabbing it with her tongue and swinging it around a bit.

"I'm…not touching that now," Hunter commented, seeing the slight amount of spit on the handle.

"Calli, you're on cart duty," Taunter said, tossing the bread into the cart.

"Geez, I miss the old days when we got to eat survivors every day," Hunter looked out the window wistfully. "Now we have to eat this crap. The only good stuff is over in the meat section. I'll go get some of that." He jumped off where he was perched.

"What's this stuff over here?" Sam asked, picking up a can and trying to pry it open. "This thing…won't come open…"

"Whatever, just toss it in. We'll have Tank open it later," Taunter shrugged.

"Yeah, that'll work," Sam nodded, putting the can into the cart.

"I got the meat," Hunter said, coming around the corner with an armful of meat. "This isn't nearly enough, though. With Tank around, it isn't, at least."

"I'll go get some more," Calli said, going around into the aisle that Hunter had just come from.

"Here, I'll take some of that," Taunter took some of the meat packs from Hunter, putting them into the cart.

"Do you guys smell something sweet?" Sam asked, sniffing the air a bit.

"Huh?" Hunter sniffed. "Yeah. Where is it coming from?"

"Over here…" Sam headed towards the freezer section, and Hunter and Taunter followed him. After a bit of a pause, Sam pulled on the handle to the freezer, managing to pull it open. The three of them were a bit surprised when a cold breeze wafted out.

"That's freaky," Taunter said, trying not to start laughing from surprise.

"What is this stuff anyway?" Hunter asked, pulling out a carton. He pried the top off, seeing that there was some sort of thick pink stuff inside. The sweet smell exploded out, surprising them all even more.

"Seriously…what is this?" Hunter repeated, not wanting to touch the strange substance that lay in front of them.

"Hey, wait," Sam took a little bit out with his finger, tasting it. "I know, this is strawberry ice cream."

"Ice cream?" Taunter asked. "Oh…oh, yeah…I sorta remember that stuff."

"I don't," Hunter shrugged. "Should we bring it with?"

"Sure, why not?" Sam shrugged. The three of them headed back to the cart, leaving the freezer ajar. They were surprised to find Calli sitting atop a huge pile of meat in the cart.

"I got the stuff," she grinned at them. "What's that you got there, Hunter?"

"Cream ice or something," Hunter told her.

"Ice cream," Sam corrected him.

"Right, right. Ice cream."

"Whatever it is, it sure smells good," Taunter said, squeezing it into the cart. "Well, I think that we've got enough stuff now."

"Hey, what if the survivors find all this food?" Sam asked, realizing a possibility of what could happen.

"We'll have Tank eat it all," Hunter replied simply. "I mean, he could probably eat it all at once, anyway." As they passed by the counter, Hunter noticed a bottle full of green liquid on the table. "What the heck is this?"

"Juice or something?" Calli questioned.

"Whatever, let's just take it," Hunter stuffed the bottle in as Calli jumped down off of the cart. "I'm just hoping that no other newbies suddenly pop up out of nowhere when we get back."

Later on, after they got back, Hunter was relieved to see that only Smoker was in the alley, and Boomer and Jeffry were still in the room. Tank seemed to have gone off somewhere.

"No one new is here, right?" Hunter asked warily, looking around.

"Nope," Smoker shook his head. He noticed the cart that Calli was pushing up in the rear. "Geez. You got a lot."

"Better than letting the survivors get it, right?" Hunter asked, grabbing a package of meat and tearing the plastic off. "I'd prefer survivor meat, but I guess that this dead cow will have to do."

"Dead cow? I've never eaten dead cow before," Taunter commented.

"It tastes like Styrofoam," Hunter said through a mouthful.

"Really? Let me try some," Taunter said, taking a little bit and chewing on it. "Ew."

"What? I said it was like Styrofoam, right?"

"What the hell is Styrofoam?" Calli maneuvered the cart through the tightly packed mattresses lying on the ground, up to the door around the corner.

"Oh, hey there, Calli," Boomer greeted her.

"How are you guys doing?" Calli asked, finding that she couldn't quite push the cart inside. "Food, anyone?" Both Boomer and Jeffry came up to the cart, peering inside. Boomer opted to take some of the meat, but Jeffry spotted something at the bottom of the cart.

"Swirly bread!" he exclaimed happily, pulling it out.

"You like that stuff?" Calli asked him.

"Yeah, I love it!" Jeffry smiled, elated. He sure seemed a lot less quiet than before, now that he had his swirly bread. He also reached in and took out the curious bottle. "What's this green stuff?"

"I dunno," Calli shrugged.

"Can I keep it?" Jeffie grinned up at her.

"Sure," Calli smiled. Jeffie went back over to his corner, carrying his newly found prizes. He pulled over an old cardboard box, pulling out ripped papers and broken electronic devices, then placing the bottle inside, and carefully replacing everything.

"Why are you putting it in there?" Boomer asked.

"I like hiding my stuff, it's fun," Jeffry replied, still smiling as he began to unwrap the swirly bread. "I just want to make sure that no one touches it."

"Oh, cool."

"This stuff really does taste terrible," Taunter mumbled through a mouthful of beef.

"Then why are you still eating it?" Hunter asked.

"Why are you?"

"…I asked you first."

"So, what is this?" Smoker asked, his tongue snaking around the corner and grabbing the ice cream carton from the cart.

"Ice cream," Taunter told him. "It smells good and stuff."

"Really?" Smoker opened the carton and was surprised. "Wow. Pink stuff that smells good."

"I dare you to taste it," Hunter grinned.

"Oh, yeah," Taunter nodded, smiling as well. "How does it taste, Smokey?"

"Fine, fine…" Smoker paused, his tongue an inch above the ice cream.

_Should I really be eating this weird pink crap?_ he thought.

"What, are you scared?" Hunter smirked, trying to imitate Smoker's trademark face.

"I'm not scared," Smoker replied. "Who gets scared of something PINK, for crying out loud?"

"You do," Hunter said, snickering. This was met by some laughing from Taunter, and Smoker really couldn't tell whether she was laughing at him or just freaked out over something again. He very slowly let his tongue rest onto the ice cream, then paused. This wasn't THAT bad. But he decided to play it up a bit.

"Oh God! It's poisonous! Agh, it burns!" he stood up, pretending to stumble around as Hunter and Taunter looked at him wide eyed. He faked a trip, tossing the carton at the other two. Hunter yelled out in dismay and surprise while Taunter broke out into frenzied laughing.

"Get it off! Get it off!" Hunter shouted, throwing it aside. He was a bit taken off guard when Smoker started laughing.

"Now who's scared of pink stuff?" Smoker asked, returning to his usual smirk. Hunter paused, realizing what had really happened.

"God dammit, Smoker."

…...

Alright, now, in this bottom section, from now on, I'm going to ask a tiny question about your OCs for each chapter. Just a quick, little, easy to answer question that will help me understand your character better. ^^ Okay, so here's today's question!

If your Infected could hang out anywhere they wanted in the whole city, where would they go?

You can answer in PM or in comments! Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D Love you guys! X3


	5. Of Newbies, Ice Cream, and Puke

Hey there, everyone! How, it's the fifth chapter already? o_o I'm on a roll! XD Well, as of now, we aren't taking anymore OCs. There were a few problems with the finalization of that, so I have a few more than expected… (darn me and my inability to say 'no' _) But as of now, I'm not going to take anymore, because it's probably going to be hard for me, and the readers, to keep track of too many. XD A few more OCs appear in this chapter, but I still haven't introduced them all yet. The last two will show up in the next chapter. Anyway, let's get going!

Oh, but before we go…I have an announcement! :3 The wonderful Zipper Whippersnapper has written some oneshots for this story! X3 You can find them by going to Zipper Whippersnapper's profile and reading the story "Little Things".

And if any of you other guys want to make oneshots or fanart or anything like that, good ahead! I'm fine with it, and I would love to see the results! ^^

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC and the plot! Sam belongs to Commander of the Rabbids, Calli belongs to Sorrowsnow, Jeffry belongs to Zipper Whippersnapper, Valery belongs to Foxstar-Nikiu, Claire belongs to CozBlueX. Lol this disclaimer is getting pretty long these days. XD

…...

Hunter, having realized that he hadn't gotten much exercise lately, had decided to go jumping around on the roofs a little the next morning. He was pretty happy with how far he had gone. All the way to the edge of the city and back. And he hadn't missed a single step.

"Hey, guys, I'm back," he said, jumping back down into the alleyway, expecting the normal. What he didn't expect was the new face sitting almost directly in front of him.

"Hey, your music is really cool!" Taunter was saying to the new girl. "How did you save an ipod anyway? I haven't seen one of these things in so long!"

"I've just always had it, I guess," the new girl shrugged. This new girl had shoulder length black hair, with purple dyed side swept bangs One of her eyes were covered, and Hunter noticed that they were red. After that, Hunter noticed her t-shirt.

"What's that?" he asked her, looking closer. "On your shirt. 'Left 4 Dead'…? Is that some kind of crappy band name?"

"No, now could you step back a bit?" the girl pushed him away a bit, feeling awkward with him looking so closely at her shirt.

"Whatever," Hunter shrugged. "What are you guys doing, anyway?"

"They're listening to music," came a sudden voice from behind him, making him jump. He turned around only to see yet _another_ new girl. But this one was hanging upside down from the fire escape ladder. This one at least looked a bit older than them, with wavy brown hair and glowing green eyes.

"Where are all these newbies coming from?" Hunter asked incredulously. "They're popping up like freaking breeding rabbits! They're everywhere!"

"Really? I don't see very many Infected around here. At least, a lot less than out there in the street," the girl hanging from the ladder said, pointing out of the alleyway.

"Who are you, anyway?" Hunter asked. "Did I miss the introductions?"

"I'm Claire," the girl replied. "But before you accuse me of not knowing what kind of Infected I am, for your info, I'm a Crawler."

"Never heard of ya," Hunter shrugged, turning to the other girl. "And what's your name?"

"Valery," the second girl replied. Hunter noticed for the first time the long claws that Valery sported. "Are you some kind of Witch?"

"Witch and Hunter hybrid," she said, somewhat of a small smile. "I can jump _and_ shred stuff."

"Yes, yes, very terrifying," Hunter nodded, not really paying attention as he tried to pick his way through the mattresses now littering the alley.

"It's not like they're bothering anyone," Sam said as Hunter passed him. "I think that you should welcome them."

"Sure, sure," Hunter said, ignoring him. "Smoker? Smoker, are you in here somewhere?"

"Back here," Smoker called among a fit of coughing. Hunter followed where his voice had come from, going into the room at the back of the alley while trying to avoid the plumes of paint that Calli was shooting at one of the back walls.

"Where did the two new ones come from?" Hunter questioned him.

"New ones?" Smoker asked, looking outside for a moment. "Oh. Look. There's new people."

"You didn't know that they were even there?"

"Nope."

"What's so bad about a few extra people?" Boomer shrugged. "The more the merrier, right?"

"I guess," Hunter sighed. "Still, it's getting crowded…"

"You didn't have any problem with Taunter coming," Smoker smirked. "I wonder why…"

"Shut up," Hunter grumbled.

"Alright, I'm just paying attention to facts…" Smoker said, he and Boomer sharing a laugh while Jeffie continued to rummage with something off in the corner.

"So, Hunty here likes Taunter?" Claire was suddenly dangling upside down from the ceiling.

"Whoa!" Hunter backed up a step or so. "How the hell did you get there?"

"I'm a Crawler. How do you THINK I got up here?" Claire asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're like a gecko," Jeffie spoke up suddenly, surprising a few of them. "You can climb on anything and stick to it."

"Yup, exactly," Claire nodded. "See? He's smarter than you, Hunty." She chuckled, heading back out of the room, via the ceiling. Hunter ignored her, or at least he tried to.

"Oh, hey, did you guys ever figure out what that green bottle thing we found was?" Hunter asked, turning to Boomer.

"Nope," Boomer shook his head.

"Why don't we just open it? Then we can figure out what it is. Where is it?" Hunter questioned. Boomer exchanged a look with a slightly worried looking Jeffie.

"I don't know where it went. It got lost," Boomer replied.

"I'll look for it later," Hunter shrugged, leaving the room.

"I'll hide it somewhere better," Jeffie said after a moment, beginning to dig into the box where he had put the mysterious bottle. As Hunter walked outside, he saw that Calli seemed to be gliding across the ground, spraying the wall with paint as she went. He was wondering exactly HOW a Smoker learned to fly, then realized that she was on a skateboard.

"How long have you had that?" he asked, regarding the skateboard as she came to a stop.

"I…always have," she told him. "Didn't you notice before? Or is your hood blocking your view?" She gave a little laugh, and Hunter shrugged. He turned out towards the alley. He realized that Taunter wasn't sitting next to Valery as she had been before, and glanced around a bit, seeing her come back from another alley.

"There's a girl crying over there," Taunter said pointing over her shoulder with her thumb. "I tried to talk to her, but she spazzed."

"Oh. That's Witch," Hunter replied. "And don't worry, she's always crying."

"But why?"

"I dunno. I guess she's just sad. And stuff. Yeah."

"Maybe if we gave her a present, she'd cheer up," Taunter said, smiling a bit. She went out into the alley. "Hey, everyone what around here would make a good present?" There was a general silence.

"You expect to find a present around here?" Claire asked bluntly.

"Hey, I know," Calli said, reaching out with her tongue and grabbing the still mostly full ice cream carton. It had been discarded after Hunter had tossed it at the wall, and Taunter had put the lid back on, not wanting it to attract Commons with its scent. "How about this?"

"Oh, yeah, that'll work great," Taunter said, but paused when she was about to take it. "But…now it's covered in your spit."

"Dry it off on Hunter's hoodie," Calli said, her words a bit harder to understand with her tongue holding something.

"Ugh, no!" Hunter said, taking a small jump back onto his mattress.

"Whatever, we'll just take it like this," Taunter said, carefully holding the carton in the places untouched by Calli's tongue. "Smoker spit is better than Boomer puke anyway." She started to make her way into the other connecting alley, then stopped, looking back at Hunter. "Are you coming? She'll kill me if I go by myself again."

"Fine, fine," Hunter said, deciding that he might as well come along. Any newbie who approached Witch would probably get ripped to shreds, so it would probably be better if he went, anyway. As they began to hear the sound of crying, Hunter pulled ahead a bit.

"Witch?" he called. There was a short silence.

"What?" came a response.

"We brought you something," Hunter told her. "Just don't freak out on us when we come around the corner."

"Fine," came Witch's voice again. Hunter and Taunter turned the corner, and Taunter held out the ice cream carton.

"We brought you a present to help you cheer up!" Taunter told her.

"R-Really?" Witch sniffled, looking up at them with teary eyes. "That's so nice!" Taunter noticed that Witch probably wouldn't be able to open it by herself with her long claws, so she pulled it open, then put it down next to Witch. Witch managed to get a little bit on one of her claws, then tasted it.

"This…this is strawberry," she said.

"Uh-huh," Hunter nodded.

"I…I hate strawberry…" Witch started crying again.

"Ohh…" Hunter said, feeling awkward. "Uh…I'm just gonna go…" He started to move out of the alley. As he left, Taunter started feeling nervous to be around Witch by herself, and started laughing without meaning to.

"You're laughing at me?" Witch looked up at her, now seeming a bit angry.

"N-no-ahahahahaha! SEE YA!" Taunter shouted, running out of the alley before she got herself into trouble. She stopped once she got back to their hang-out, relieved to be away from the Witch.

"Did she like it?" Calli was asking Hunter.

"Yeah, she loved it," Hunter said sarcastically. "I guess that Witches just don't like strawberries."

"Wait, won't the sweet smell attract some of the horde?" Taunter asked, looking back into the alley that she and Hunter had just come from.

"It's fine, Witch will just tear them all up, anyway," Hunter said, shrugging. "Anyway, I'm gonna go look for that weird bottle thing, again." He turned, then headed into the room branching off of the alley. Upon looking inside, much was the same. Smoker was still sitting there. Smoking. Boomer was sitting there, too. Gurgling. But Jeffie was messing around with some of the boxes in the back.

"Hey, what are you doing back there?" Hunter asked, coming inside the doorway a bit. Then, he noticed what Jeffie was holding in his hands. "Oh, you found the bottle. Cool." Jeffie turned and frowned at him, holding the bottle tightly. "Uh…can I see it?" Hunter took a step closer. Jeffie shook his head. "Are you sure?" This time, a nod, and Jeffie moved a bit further away. Hunter came up to Jeffie, but didn't make a move to attack. Jeff was still a bit wary, though.

"Hey, look! Check out that shiny piece of metal over there!" Hunter said suddenly, pointing across the room. Jeffie turned quickly, wanting to find the piece of metal that Hunter had mentioned, and Hunter, grinning, grabbed the bottle from Jeffie's hands.

"Hey!" Jeffie said, turning around quickly. He jumped up to try to get it, but Hunter held it up out of his reach, taking advantage of his height.

"I'll give it back right after I find out what's inside it," Hunter told him, trying to push him away a bit. The little Sniffer Infected wouldn't have that, and pushed him back.

"Give it back, now!" Jeffie said, reaching his arm out to try to grab the bottle.

"Geez, calm-whoa!" Hunter lost his balance as Jeffie shoved him again, the bottle slipping out of his hand and flying through the air. It bounced right off of Boomer, rolling out the door. Jeffie ran out to get it, and Hunter followed, both of them wanting to get to it first. Boomer gurgled a bit more.

"If you're going to barf, don't do it in here," Smoker sighed, looking up at the Infected sitting across from him. As both Jeffie and Hunter scrambled for the bottle, it continued to slip out of their hands, rolling further out into the alley, heading out towards the street.

"What's going on?" Sam asked as the two Infected dashed through the alley, everyone watching them and wondering just what they were doing. Just as the bottle was about to leave the alley, Hunter jumped forward, grabbing it only at the price of sliding along the ground a slight bit.

"Got it," he smiled to himself, blissfully unaware of the other Infected about to jump on him. Jeffie landed on his back just about as hard as he could, and the shock of the hit made Hunter drop the bottle. Hunter felt that if he was still human, his spine probably would have snapped a bit. "Geez kid, are you crazy?" The bottle rolled out into the street, just as Tank was coming around the corner. Hunter and Jeffie continued to struggle for possession of the bottle, running among Tank's legs and almost making him trip.

"What are you guys doing?" Tank asked, irritated and trying to keep his balance while not stepping on them. He didn't get any sort of response, but the two beneath him continued to crash into his legs, and he lost his balance a bit too much. He stepped back, and there was a dull crunch. Smoker and Boomer came around the corner from the inner room, wondering what they could do to make the two squabbling ones calm down. Both Hunter and Jeffie paused, and Tank lifted his foot. There was a thick green ooze where the bottle had once been, most likely the contents it had previously held. There was a long silence. Hunter glanced over at Jeffie. He wondered exactly what Jeffie would do now, considering that he had tried so hard to get it back. And now, Tank had stepped on it. At least Hunter was relieved that Jeffie would get mad at Tank, not him.

"It…wasn't that shiny anyway," Jeffie said, looking away and pouting a bit. "I've got better stuff." Hunter was a bit surprised at this.

_So, I get tackled for touching it, and he doesn't do anything when Tank stomps on it? _Hunter thought. Still, Jeffie looked a little sad. Maybe he would have done something if Tank wasn't so damn huge.

"Right…right. Sorry," Hunter said quickly as Jeffie started going back to the room, obviously upset.

"Good job," Boomer whispered to Jeffie as he passed. "You didn't start a fight. That was very nice of you." Jeffie nodded in acknowledgement to him. Boomer was the one who had been nicest to him so far, other than Taunter, who had patted him on the head, which he loved. So, Jeffie knew that he could at least trust those two. He made his way back into the back room, deciding to find the piece of metal he had been originally playing with. Or maybe even look for something new.

"Are you happy now?" Smoker asked. "Making children unhappy and such?"

"Geez, he'll be fine," Hunter said hastily, turning back to the green goop on the ground. Tank was trying to rub it off his foot onto the street, grumbling something under his breath. "Now, I can finally figure out what this stuff is." He sniffed the air, then immediately pulled back. "Oh, crap!"

"What is it?" Claire asked, climbing up onto the nearest wall to get a better look. Everyone was looking to him now, even Valery, who had pulled out her ear buds when Hunter and Jeffie had come careening down the alley.

"It's Boomer puke," Hunter said, turning to the others as the sound of the horde could be heard, coming closer.

"Oh. That's not good," Boomer said quietly. There was a bit of a pause, in which the howl of the stampeding horde could be heard coming ever closer.

"Alright, everyone inside the room!" Smoker shouted, pointing towards the room connecting to the alleyway.

"Every man for themselves!" Hunter jumped away from the puke, nearly landing face first into a box when he landed in the room. The rest of them except Calli got up, going into the room.

"What about this?" she said, pointing to her painting on the wall. "I wasn't done yet!"

"Come on!" Smoker said, grabbing her with his tongue and pulling her inside. He shut the door and locked it, and the rest of them sat in the dim light coming from the window.

"But they're going to mess it up!" Calli quickly climbed up so that she could look out the window. "It wasn't dry yet!"

"Hey! Hey!" came a shout. Then, they all realized: Tank was still outside. Smoker unlocked it and opened it. There was a bit of a pause.

"…You're too big for the door," Smoker said, closing the door again without waiting for a reply.

"Dammit, Smoker!" Tank shouted, and they could hear him retreating into another alley. Smoker turned around, met by the looks of everyone else.

"What? He was too big," Smoker shrugged, feeling singled out. A few of the Commons had strayed into the alley, and were rummaging around, a few of them pounding on the door to the room that everyone else was in.

"Geez. I hate Commons," Hunter grumbled. "They're so annoying."

"…Does anyone else feel like a survivor right now?" Taunter asked after a pause. "You know, we're locked in a room with the Commons pounding on the door and stuff…"

"Yuck. I don't want to be a survivor," Claire said, scrunching up her nose a bit.

"Do you think it's contagious?" Jeffie asked, now cradling a discarded paint can that Calli had used up.

"Think what's contagious?" Boomer turned to him.

"You know. Being a survivor…"

"Psh. That couldn't be contagious," Sam shook his head, smiling a bit.

"Well, you never know. I mean, infection is contagious, right?" Calli asked. "Couldn't survivor-ness be contagious, too?" There was a long pause. They all looked at each other momentarily.

"I'd rather be out there with the Commons," Hunter said suddenly. There was yet another pause.

"Yup, let's go," Smoker said, going over to the door and opening it, freeing them from the room. "Avoid survivor-ness! Avoid it! 'Cause if you turn into a survivor, we'll have to kick your ass!"

…...

Alright, thanks for your feedback in the last question of the day! ^^ It's really helpful! :3 Anyway, here's this chapter's question…or, questions. XD

Can your Infected swim? Do they like swimming? Do they like water in general?

Thanks for your continued feedback and compliments, and see you later! X3


	6. How Exactly Does One Lose a Jaw?

Yaaay chapter six! Wow this is going along quickly. XD Anyway, we're almost done introducing all of the OCs all of them but one make an appearance this chapter, and the one who doesn't IS mentioned and will show up next chapter. Thanks for all your support, guys! ^^ And I can guarantee that the survivors are going to show up again at some point, just not yet…Well, anyway, without further ado, enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. CozBlueX owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

…...

"We're all full," Hunter said bluntly to the new Infected that stood at the entrance to the alley.

"Doesn't look full to me," the boy Infected said, looking over Hunter's shoulder and into the hang-out and adjusting his dark sunglasses. Hunter sighed in exasperation. Here at the opening to the street stood yet another newbie. This one had short brown hair, messy in back, but neat up front. He wore a faded and worn out gray t-shirt and cargo pants, sporting many pockets and tears around the ankles. This whole outfit was completed by black running shoes with red streaks. This new guy seemed to be the only one who's shoes were still in fairly good repair. Hunter couldn't tell what color his eyes were due to his dark sunglasses, and frankly, Hunter couldn't see why this guy would even wear them. Still, even though he couldn't see his eyes, he could tell that this newbie was an Infected all the same due to his gray skin. And he looked to be almost the same age as Hunter himself.

"Sooo, what kind of Infected are you, then?" Hunter asked, wondering if they had run into yet another one that he had never heard of.

"A Sprinter," the boy replied. Nope, Hunter had never heard of it. "And my name's Mike."

"Well, Mike, like I said, we're out of room here," Hunter shrugged. "You'll just have to find somewhere else."

"Someone new?" Smoker asked, coming up behind Hunter suddenly.

_Crap,_ Hunter thought. _Now I'm gonna HAVE to let this guy stay…_

"Yeah, hi," Mike said. "I just got into town. I saw you guys hanging out here and I decided to come join you. I don't think that hoodie guy here really likes the idea of that, though." Hunter was getting awfully tired of getting called "hoodie guy" by every other newbie that came. Claire hadn't called him that, but she had called him "Hunty", which might even prove to be worse soon enough.

"Well, don't worry. We've got some extra room," Smoker replied. "I guess that 'hoodie guy' here just doesn't want anyone else moving in."

"Smoker! Call me 'Hunter'!" Hunter objected. "I have enough people calling me 'hoodie guy' already!"

"So, what's your name?" Smoker asked Mike, ignoring Hunter.

"Mike," Mike replied. "So, is there any room for me?"

"Sure, probably," Smoker shrugged. Hunter growled, not wanting any other Infected moving in, and moved back into the alley, which now was buzzing with activity, unlike it had been just a few days ago.

"I finished!" Calli said, spraying one last spurt of paint out onto the section of wall she was painting on. "This one is a special tribute to you, Hunter." She grinned, and Hunter responded with a grimace, not wanting to look up at the wall.

"What's with all the hearts?" he could hear Taunter asking. Hunter was further fearing exactly what was showing up on the wall, but finally looked up. In big letters, Calli had painted "Taunter & Hunter", adorned with several hearts flying around. If Hunter's skin hadn't already been so pale, he would have blanched from anger and mortification.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hunter said, going over to Calli and pointing up at the wall angrily.

"I could explain it if you want," Calli shrugged with a smirk on the side of her face that wasn't covered in swelling. "I mean, Taunter doesn't really seem to get it either."

"Yeah. I don't get it," Taunter shook her head, seriously not understanding at all the message on the wall.

"Take it down," Hunter said resolutely to Calli.

"No way, it's my art!" Calli laughed, jumping onto her skateboard and rolling on down the alley. "You'll just have to live with it!"

"Dammit! Paint girl! Get the hell back here!" Hunter shouted, chasing after her.

"What's that?" Smoker asked, coming up alongside the small crowd looking up at the wall.

"One of Calli's paintings," Sam told him.

"Heh, nice," Mike grinned. "Is someone going out around here?"

"I don't think so," Boomer shrugged. "Unless Hunter isn't telling us something."

"Nah, he's too busy glaring at everything that moves," Claire cut in, coming alongside them on the wall of the building to their left.

"Hehe, true," Sam smiled. There was a bit of a pause.

"I'm kinda bored," Taunter commented. "Let's do something fun."

"I'm serious, get back here! I'm seriously going to tear your tongue out! I mean it!" Hunter's shouting voice suddenly appeared again, and he was seen chasing Calli down the street on the other side of the alley.

"What is it with you and all the tongue tearing?" Calli replied.

"Just come back here and you'll see!"

"Hey, guys, hang on," Smoker grabbed Hunter with his tongue, much to Hunter's displeasure. "If you keep this up, you'll attract the horde. So just quit it for now."

"Fine," Hunter said, and Smoker released him.

"Two words," Calli grinned as she passed Hunter and went into the alley. "Anger management." Hunter decided to fume quietly for a while. Maybe if he didn't say anything, they would leave him alone.

"Hey, hey, guys," Taunter said suddenly. "I have an idea for a game we could play."

"A game?" Calli asked, rolling into the alleyway.

"Yeah. You know how Tank has no lower jaw? Well, I say, the first one to find his jaw wins!"

"Find…his jaw?" Sam asked questioningly.

"One of your friends is missing a jaw?" Mike said, sounding surprised. "That's rough."

"Alright, first one to find it wins! Ready, set, go!" Taunter shouted before anyone had time to object. She took off out of the alley, actually using her speed for the first time. Apparently she really wanted to win.

"Hey, false start, false start!" Calli called, jumping back onto her skateboard and following her.

"I'll join in," Claire going off along the wall, though she was wondering how she was going to get from building to building. Hunter looked at the company that he had been left with.

"Fine, I'll look, too," he shrugged. He turned to Smoker momentarily. "If you let anyone else new in, I swear, I will tear your tongue out."

"Like all the other times you said you would?" Smoker smirked, tapping ash off of his cigarette.

"Yeah, but this time I'll do it," Hunter said, turning around and leaving the alley.

"That is one wound up guy," Mike remarked after he had left.

"Always has been," Smoker nodded.

"I guess that I'll go out to look, too," Sam said, heading off into a different alley. Sooner or later, almost everyone had gone off to look for Tank's jaw. They really didn't know what they were going to do with it, but if they found it, at least they could win. And winning was good. As Hunter was jumping over the rooftops, he noticed Taunter down in an alleyway below.

"Give…me…that!" she was trying to pull something away from a Common Infected, who seemed really set on keeping a hold on it.

"What's that you're trying to get?" he called down to her.

"I think it might be Tank's jaw," she replied.

"It looks like a hunk of meat to me."

"Exactly." The Common Infected pulled the meat away, and tried to run out of the other end of the alley, only to have Hunter jump down in front of him.

"I'll take that," Hunter growled at the Common, snatching the meat away. The Common retreated, knowing that he couldn't take on two Special Infected at once. He would have to go find meat elsewhere.

"So, is this his jaw or not?" Hunter asked, walking over to Taunter.

"Hm…" she looked at it. "Come to think of it, this looks more like a leg."

"Yeah, true," Hunter tossed the meat over his shoulder.

"How do you think that Tank lost his jaw anyway?" Taunter wondered aloud as they headed down the alley, searching around for anything that might have once been attached to Tank.

"Who loses a jaw in the first place?" Hunter laughed a bit. "I mean, you'd think that it'd be pretty hard to lose one." Hunter turned to look at Taunter, only to see that she was looking at him in a surprised way

"What?" he asked, wondering if he had something on his hoodie or something.

"That's the first time I've heard you laugh in a while," she said. "You never laugh when you're around everyone else. You just get mad."

"I guess that it's just part of the infection thing," Hunter shrugged. "It's not like I have anger issues or anything."

"But you never get mad when it's just the two of us."

"Maybe you're just more tolerable. I mean, I've got Smoker constantly inviting in more and more new people, Calli marking up the walls, and all this other crap to deal with…"

"It'll get better soon. You'll like everyone eventually," Taunter shrugged. "I mean, usually I'm not that great with new people, but I already like these guys as friends. You guys were my first friends after the infection, you know?"

"Oh. Cool," Hunter wasn't really sure what to say to that. He thought for a moment. "Smoker was my first friend, I guess. He was just sort of always there. Then, Boomer came, then Witch and Tank…then, everyone else came after you showed up. It's just too many new people all at once."

"You'll get used to them soon. You just need to give them a chance," Taunter said, taking one last look around the alley. "…You know, now that I think about it, I bet that Tank's jaw has been eaten by Commons by now."

"Probably," Hunter agreed. "Want to head back? Maybe everyone else is still out looking. It might actually be quiet for once."

"Yeah. Let's go back for now," Taunter gave a small smile, and the two of them started on their way back. Once they returned to the alley, they saw that not too many people were missing, and it seemed that Calli had gone back earlier than them, and Sam was just returning now.

"Did you find it?" Calli asked him.

"No, but I did find someone new," Sam replied. "His name is Clawer. He'll be coming over to meet you guys soon, but I think that he wanted to be alone for a while."

"Oh, so you guys ARE together!" Mike grinned, pointing at Hunter and Taunter as they came inside the alley. "I knew it."

"Let's not start another argument, okay?" Boomer asked when he heard this. He didn't want Hunter getting mad again.

"Fine, I won't start a fight," Hunter said, walking further inside. "But I need to do something first." He went over to where Calli was painting, and picked up her skateboard.

"Hey! What are you doing with Sprite?" she exclaimed.

"Nothing," he smirked, putting on the ground in another place, then kicking it with his foot so that it rolled down another alley in the direction of Witch's usual haunts. "Hey, Witch! If anything passes by you, shred it!"

"No! Sprite!" Calli shouted, chasing her skateboard down the alley, trying to get it before it reached Witch, if she was there. Hunter smiled, seeming proud of himself.

"So, did you ever find Tank's jaw?" Smoker asked, coming out of the inner room.

"Nope. We didn't find it anywhere," Taunter shook her head. "We're guessing that it got eaten already."

"So, nobody won, then," Valery shrugged.

"Oh, I beg to differ," came a voice, and they all looked up to see Claire, moving along the wall, clutching what looked to be a strange lump in her right hand. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be just one thing: A lower jaw.

"How did you-?" Hunter stopped himself, deciding not to ask.

"Well…that's…that doesn't count," Taunter said quickly, the competitive part of her brain suddenly surfacing.

"Ah, I think not," Claire grinned, letting the jaw drop to one of the mattress below. "My win, I guess."

"But…but-!"

"Better luck next time."

"Aw…aw, man!"

…...

Alright, now time for the question of this chapter! :D Keep on answering them, guys! :D Remember, the better I know your character, the better I can portray them. ^^ So, anyway, here's today's question!

If your Infected heard music from somewhere, what would they do? Do they like music? If so, what kind of music is they're favorite?


	7. The Magic EightBall Knows All

Woohoo, chapter seven! Yaaaay! :D Sorry that this one took so much longer than the others. XD I recently got the Sims 3, and I ended up playing it 'til two in the morning by accident…but, today I'm going to focus on writing! :D Oh, and also. A few of the people who leave comments who do not have an account on fanfiction or are just not logged in are leaving me questions from time to time. Keep in mind that it's impossible for me to message you back if you don't log in before you leave a review. Anyway, time to get going, right? Okay, let's go! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. CozBlueX owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

…...

The alleyway was really getting a bit crowded. There had been a bit of discussion among a few of them as to whether or not they should move somewhere bigger, but the majority voted to stay right where they were. The alleyway had an appeal of some sort, the kind of feeling that a nice warm house would give a survivor. Except that this was an alleyway, which suited all of the Infected just fine. The new Infected that Sam had mentioned, Clawer, had showed up, just like Sam said he would. Clawer was the kind of guy who knew how to survive by himself. He had shaggy black hair that covered most of his face, but his right eye, which glowed almost as bright as the moon at night, could be seen shining through the black curtain. His other eye, on the other hand, was covered with tumor-like bloats. He sported razor sharp claws, slightly longer than any of the others' but not as long as Witch's. Hers were just ridiculously long anyway. He wore tattered and stained clothing, along with a black hoodie. Though he seemed to never put the hood up. He was a loner, that was for sure. He hadn't talked to anyone else much, and seemed to sort of stay outside of any activities going on. But still, he was there. And that made Hunter even grumpier.

"Smoker, if anyone else comes, are you seriously going to let them stay here?" Hunter asked, looking over at Smoker as he spoke. "I mean, it's not just that I'm pissed off about it, we're not going to have any more room soon. And nobody wants to leave."

"Whatever. We can take care of it later," Smoker shrugged.

"Is all that smoke getting to your brain?"

"Doubt it."

"I think that Hunter just wants some alone time with Taunter," Calli teased.

"No, I don't!" Hunter said quickly, swiping Calli's skateboard and tossing it down the alley again so it rolled away. "Now go get your rolling thing!"

"Would you quit that?" Calli shouted back to him as she ran after the skateboard. After a moment of running after it, she managed to grab it with her tongue to stop it. She transferred it over to her hands, checking for damage. It was a bit scratched. Hunter would have to pay for that later. But as she turned to leave, something caught her eye. She reached into a nearby trashcan with her hand, pulling out a smooth, black ball. Upon turning it over, she noticed that there was a white circle with the number eight inside. And on the other side was a small hole with something inside, though she couldn't tell what.

"What's this thing?" she said to herself. She shook it up a little, then saw something inside the small hole. It was a blue shape, with tiny text on it. The text read "Your future is looking up." Calli was a bit confused.

"Is this some sort of mind reading thing? No, no…uh…future telling? Like, answering questions?" She paused for a moment. "Okay, ball thing, am I going to get back at Hunter later today?" She shook up the ball, and to her amazement, the small blue shape inside now read "Yes, of course."

"Wow!" she grinned. "This thing is amazing! I could be…like, a fortune teller or something!" She glanced back in the direction of the alley, able to hear everyone talking from where she was. She walked back into the alley, striding proudly and carefully holding her new found treasure.

"What's that?" Valery asked her almost as soon as she entered, indicating the eight-ball.

"It's my new crystal ball," Calli replied smugly. "I mean, it's not crystal exactly, but it still works."

"As in, it tells futures?"

"Yup."

"Cool."

"Something that tells futures?" Taunter walked over, having overheard them. "Can you tell my future?"

"Sure," Calli nodded. "But you've gotta ask a question first."

"Alright, let's see…" Taunter paused. "Am I ever going to be able to stop laughing at the worst possible times?" Calli shook up the ball, then looked at the result.

"The crystal ball says…" Calli paused for dramatic effect. "…No."

"Damn," Taunter said, her face falling.

"What's that?" Smoker asked, reaching out to grab the ball with his tongue, but Calli pulled it away.

"It's mine, first off all," she said, trying to ward off his tongue as he continued to try to take it. "And it's a fortune telling thing." A few of the others gathered around to take a look.

"Fortune telling?" Hunter asked skeptically. "I don't buy it."

"Well, it's real," Calli disagreed with him. "And it can answer any 'yes' or 'no' question, and it's always right!"

"Can I ask a question?" Boomer asked.

"Sure," Calli replied.

"Is there going to be enough room for everyone in the alley?" Boomer questioned, regarding the discussion from earlier. Calli shook the ball, looking into the result window.

"Yup, there will be," Calli smiled. "The ball has spoken! Now Hunter can't complain anymore."

"Right," Hunter rolled his eyes.

"Oh, hey, I have a question," Sam spoke up. "Are we going to catch any survivors soon?"

"Good question," Calli told him, shaking up the ball. She waited for a moment to see the results. "The ball says 'yes'!"

"Are we going to catch some today?" Mike joined in, seeming a bit interested.

"The ball says…'yes' again!"

"Too bad that it's a big fake," Hunter shrugged.

"It's not a fake. You just don't want to admit that you know that it's real," Calli said.

"Yeah, it seems pretty valid to me," Taunter added.

"How about this?" Hunter took the ball from Calli when she wasn't paying attention to how carefully she was holding it. "Will I be able to break this in one throw?" He shook up the ball as he had seen Calli do, then chucked it out towards the street.

"Hey!" Calli shouted. "It'll break!"

"Exactly," Hunter nodded. But suddenly, Mike was out on the street, catching the ball. He must have run over there without any of them noticing. It's times like this when his speed came in handy. He looked down at the ball, turning it over until he found the result window. He laughed a bit, then looked up at the others.

"It says 'no'," he smirked at Hunter.

"Whatever," Hunter said, trying to ignore the snickering from the rest of the group as Mike returned to the alley and gave the ball back to Calli. Jeffry had come a bit closer to Calli, trying to get a better look at the mysterious fortune telling orb.

"So, about those survivors…" Sam went back to the previous subject. "Can that ball tell us where they are?"

"It can only do 'yes' and 'no' questions," Calli replied.

"We could always keep guessing places until we get it right," Smoker commented. "I mean, the survivors have to be somewhere around here."

"Yeah, that'll work," Taunter nodded. "Okay, everyone, let's start asking it where they are!"

"The skate park?" Valery asked, putting away her ipod in preparation to leave.

"Nope," Calli replied after reading the answer.

"The old grocery store? Maybe they're getting food," Boomer guessed.

"Nope, not there either," Calli responded.

"Uh…how about the shopping center?" Sam suggested.

"Nope, not there," Calli shook her head.

"If this ball was so 'all-knowing', wouldn't it be giving you guys some more help?" Hunter asked, clearly not interested anymore.

"Don't disrespect the magical ball!" Calli told him quickly. "You'll be in big trouble!"

"Uh-huh…" Hunter said disbelievingly.

"Geez, where could those stupid survivors be?" Claire asked, getting a bit impatient.

"Why don't you try the last place you saw them?" came a voice, and they all turned to see that Clawer had been the one who had spoken. He was still away from the group, but apparently he had been listening the whole time.

"Maybe…" Calli shook up the ball. "…Hey, he got it! He got it! It said 'yes'! The survivors are in that place that we saw them last time!"

"Alright, let's go!" Sam said, raring to go.

"Yeah, before they go somewhere else!" Calli pushed the ball into one of her tattered pockets, and soon enough, practically the whole group was off. Except for Hunter. He continued to sit in the alley, not wanting believe a piece of plastic. But looking up, he saw that absolutely everyone had gone. Even Clawer.

"Whatever. It's not true anyway," Hunter said to no one in particular. Still, there was a small nagging thought at the back of his mind. Maybe the piece of plastic WAS right. Maybe he was missing out. Maybe everyone else was tearing up survivors right now. Maybe he was missing the best opportunity ever. Maybe they would all bug him about it when they got back having killed the survivors. Maybe. Just maybe.

"Alright, alright, I'll go!" Hunter said, annoyed at himself as he stood up and followed the path that the others had taken. Soon enough, he arrived where everyone else was. But he didn't see anything happening. No screaming, no shooting, no ripping, no blood, no anything. He smiled smugly. The piece of plastic really was wrong.

"There's nothing in here," Sam said, looking into the safe room that the survivors had been hiding in the last time that they were there. The guns were all gone, as were the health packs. All that was left were a few empty ammo boxes. There was also a small message on the wooden wall reading "Ellis was here", looking like it had been carved out with a large knife…maybe even an axe. "It's empty. And some guy named Ellis was here, I guess."

"See? What did I tell you guys?" Hunter said, coming up to the group. "I mean, seriously, you trusted a piece of plastic?"

"It's not a piece of plastic!" Calli objected. She paused. "Well, okay, it IS a piece of plastic, but it can tell the future!"

"Then where are the survivors?" Hunter said, glad to be able to rub it in Calli's face. "I don't see anyone except us around here. Not even a single Common."

"Oh well," Taunter sighed a bit. "Let's just head back." The group started to head back, deciding to go through the back alleys in case the horde came. Nobody wanted to have to deal with those annoying things. But suddenly, as they were walking through an alley, they heard voices.

"What's that?" Smoker coughed, trying to keep his voice low.

"I heard a Smoker," came a female voice. "Keep your guard up everyone."

"Survivors!" Sam whispered. There were footsteps, and suddenly, four survivors, three men and a woman, stood almost directly in front of them.

"Holy shit!" the one in the baseball cap shouted. The rest of them turned to look, and were shocked.

"Smoker!"

"Boomer!"

"Hunter!"

"Crap! Fire in the hole!" The one in the white suit threw something over to their group, and it skittered to a stop directly in front of them. It was beeping, and a red light was flashing on it.

"What's that?" Jeffry asked, seeming interested in the flashing red light.

"Pipe bomb! Pipe bomb!" Smoker shouted, grabbing Jeffry away from the pipe bomb and making a break for it. "Run, dammit, run!" There was a general scattering, the ones who could jump high enough going up to the roofs, and the others running out of the alley. There was a loud explosion, but by that time, all of them had been out of the alley.

"Damn," Hunter said, going over to the edge of the roof, looking down at the survivors.

"Ha, we got them good!" laughed the one in the baseball cap.

"Hey…hey!" Sam said, coming over as well. "Is he…is he making fun of my accent?" But before they could do anything, the survivors had gone through a door into another building. There was a loud roar from inside, and the ones on the roof looked down at the door inquisitively.

"Tank! Tank!" came the shouts of the survivors, and sounds of shooting were heard.

"Ah, dammit!" Hunter cursed. "Tank gets all the survivors!"

"Well, he'll take them out for sure-" Sam was saying when Tank suddenly came bursting through the door, having once again sustained heavy damage and running away to heal.

"Geez," Hunter sighed in exasperation. He turned to where Tank was running. "Pushover!" He shouted this, hoping that Tank would hear him.

"I heard a Hunter! Run!" came another shout from one of the survivors, and the four of them could be heard going further into the building. Once things calmed down a bit, the group reformed, down on the ground.

"Hey, Hunter," Calli said. Now she was the one with the smug smile, and Hunter was wondering exactly why she had this look. "Guess what?"

"What?" Hunter asked.

"My 'piece of plastic' was right," she smirked at him.

"What? No it wasn't. It got the place wrong," he shook his head.

"But it DID say that we would find survivors today."

"Yeah, but-" Hunter took a momentary pause. What could he even say to that? He looked at Calli, trying to figure out a comeback. He got none. He turned around, annoyed that he couldn't think of something.

"Aw, are you getting angry?" Calli laughed.

"Sheesh, go paint your walls or something," Hunter muttered, jumping away and onto the rooftops, hoping that next time he would be able to think of something.

"Well, Tank's going to be needing a health pack, I guess," Smoker shrugged. "We can lend him one of the ones we found."

"Well, I'd say that I got the best of Hunter today," Calli grinned.

"Well, at least it wasn't anything too bad," Taunter shrugged.

"Too bad?" Calli laughed to herself. "Just wait until he sees what I painted next to his mattress." And suddenly, from a few streets down, a single angry shout was heard,

"CALLIIIIIIII!"

…...

Thanks for answering all the questions so far, everyone! :D It really helps! :3 Anyway, here's today's question!

Does your Infected remember anything from before the Infection? If so, how do they remember it? Dreams, random flashbacks, stuff they see that reminds them, or anything else. What makes them remember? (that is, if they do remember)


	8. The Hood of Mystery

I'll apologize in advance for the lack of focusing on the newer OCs in this chapter! You see, I had a lot of chapters planned out already from when we only had five OCs…so, I tried to modify it a bit, but it still focuses on the five first OCs that I was given. Anyway, I hope that you guys enjoy the chapter! Also, it's around one in the morning right now, so there might be a few grammar mistakes. ^^;

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. CozBlueX owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

…...

It was a blisteringly hot day. Hardly anyone had any energy to move around. Almost all of them were there, except for Clawer, who had mentioned something about a basement somewhere. Most of the infected in the alley were lying down on their mattresses, trying to cool down, but it looked like Hunter was going to go somewhere.

"Where are you going?" Smoker asked, hardly even looking up.

"When we went to that food store," Hunter replied, "there was this door, and when you opened it, cool air came out. I'm going over there."

"Oh, yeah. There was a thing like that," Sam nodded, though he didn't bother to get up. "It's too far away, though. We'll never make it in this heat."

"I'm willing to try," Hunter said, flinching slightly as he first touched the hot pavement while getting up. "And when I'm the only one not dying out here, you guys'll know that I had the right idea." And with that, he was off.

"How is he even moving?" Taunter groaned, rolling onto her side. "How are we going to survive this? Even the safe room is burning hot!" It was true. Even Jeffry, who spent most of his time inside that room, had come out, pushing his mattress up into what little shade the buildings offered. It was around noon, and the sun was glaring straight down upon them.

"I don't see how he can wear that hoodie when it's this hot out," Calli said.

"I could probably light a cigarette by pointing it at the sun right now," Smoker muttered. He hated hot weather. It just made their endless amount of days with practically no survivors even more unbearable.

"But seriously, how do you guys do it?" Calli asked, turning to Sam slightly. "You know, where those hoodies all the time?"

"We just…do," Sam shrugged.

"What's under those things, anyway?" Mike sat up slightly. "I've always wondered what you Hunters have under your hoodies."

"I really want to find out, too," Calli managed to sit up all the way. "Hey, I know. Why don't we just go after Hunter to find out?" There was a long pause, and a single large cloud floated overheard, blocking out the sun and providing them with some relief.

"Huh. You know, it actually would be kind of nice to see his face for once," Taunter nodded, sitting up as well. "Let's organize a team or something."

"I wanna be the sketch artist!" Calli shouted almost immediately.

"Why would you need a sketch artist?" Boomer asked. "You just want to find out what Hunter looks like."

"Okay, okay, you can be the sketch artist, Calli," Taunter said, standing up. "I'll be the head detective! And Sam can be the dude who shows up on the computer screen."

"We don't have one of those," Sam mumbled almost incoherently as the cloud moved on along its course.

"Whatever, you can still do it," Taunter said. "But anyway, we still have to find Hunter, and he might have moved by now. Hey, Jeffie, you're good at finding stuff, right? Can you help us find him?"

"Huh?" Jeffry looked up, surprised that they had asked him to help. "Okay."

"Alright! Super detective team, GO!" Taunter said enthusiastically. She loved the idea of private detectives for some reason. She had seen pictures of them in a discard magazine that had caught her eye. Maybe she had been interested in them before infection. She wasn't sure, but now she was ready to get going.

"Alright, Jeffie, where is he?" Taunter asked Jeffry as they walked into the street. You could practically feel the heat rising off of the pavement, but they tried to ignore it. Jeffry sniffed around for a little bit, but finally caught a scent.

"This way," Jeffry said, leading the way. Soon enough, they had arrived just where Hunter had said he would be: the grocery store.

"Alright, here's the plan," Taunter said, bringing the other two into a huddle. "He's going to be over next to the chilly door, right? So, I'll distract him, then Calli, you pull his hood off with your tongue while standing behind one of the shelves."

"What should I do?" Jeffry inquired, wondering exactly how he could help the mission.

"You…hm…" Taunter thought for a moment, wanting to pick him a job that would keep him out of the way of any anger fits that Hunter might have if they did manage to get his hood off. "Jeffie, you guard the door and tell us if anyone suspicious comes around."

"Okay!" Jeffry smiled, seeming happy that he had a real job. Taunter and Calli went in quietly through the broken sliding door. They carefully crept around towards where the freezer section was, and Calli hid behind the next shelf. She nodded to Taunter, who went around the corner.

"Hey, Hunter," Taunter said, putting on a smile. Hunter was so startled that he nearly banged his head on one of the shelves inside the freezer. "Why are you sticking your head in there?"

"It's better than outside," Hunter replied. "I guess that you were smart enough to come here, too. Just lying there in the alley isn't going to do anything." Taunter was hardly paying any attention to what he was saying. She was focused too much on what his face would look like. As of now, she could only see his mouth and the lowest part of his nose. The rest of his face remained a mystery, like some long, drawn out aspect of a T.V. show.

"Taunter? Hello?" Hunter said, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Huh? What?" she asked.

"Are you okay? You zoned out there for a second," Hunter remarked, still staying next to the open freezer. "Do you need to stick your head in the cold door, too?"

"No, no…" Taunter shook her head, suddenly seeing Calli's tongue coming up over the top of the other shelf.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" Hunter asked, glancing upwards just as Calli was about to pull his hood off. "What the-!" He jumped away quickly, nearly crashing right into a shelf.

"Hey, quit moving!" Calli shouted from the other side, trying to grab his hood again. She was looking through the openings in the back of the shelf, and it was hard enough to keep track of him as it was.

"What the hell are you doing?" he shouted at her.

"Hang on, hold still!" Calli said, still trying to get a hold of him. Hunter dodged out of the way, escaping from the store out of one of the broken windows. He always had a feeling that female infected might have a few screws loose.

"Dang, we lost him," Calli said, pulling her tongue back and coming over to join Taunter.

"It's alright," Taunter said. "Besides, we've still got Sam to help us, right?"

"Oh…right."

Hunter ran along the rooftops for a while, trying to figure out exactly WHAT Calli had been trying to do. He figured that if he kept running, the wind would keep him cool. But suddenly, he had to screech to a stop, seeing Sam sitting on the next roof.

"Hey, do you know why Calli's gone crazy?" Hunter asked him.

"They wanna see what's under your hood," Sam replied.

"What? And that's why Calli was trying to-" Hunter paused for a moment. "Well, that's stupid. Why couldn't they have just asked you? You've got a hood up all the time, too."

"Well, they didn't ask me," Sam shrugged. "Plus, I think that both Taunter and Calli are interested in seeing what you look like, not me. Though I'm pretty sure that Calli's got some bad stuff coming to you when she does see it."

"Come on, just take off your hood," Hunter answered. "I don't want to take mine off."

"Well, I don't want to take mine off, either." They both glared at each other for a moment.

Hey, Sam!" came a sudden shout. They both looked down at the street, seeing Calli, Taunter, and Jeffry standing by the side of the road. "Did you stop him?"

"I think so," Sam shouted back.

"You didn't stop me," Hunter disagreed.

"Well, you're moving, are you?" Sam gave a small smirk.

"I-" Hunter stopped before he could even begin the sentence. He had no time for this now, seeing as Calli and Taunter were coming across the street, Jeffry right behind them. "Forget it!" He jumped down from the roof into another alley, and started going off again.

"Which way did he go, Jeffie?" Calli asked as they reached the other side of the street.

"In there," Jeffry pointed to an alleyway entrance, and the three of them went inside, only to be met by a fork in the path.

"Alright, Jeffie, you're with me!" Calli said, bringing Jeffry off down the left path before he could even say anything about which way Hunter had gone.

"Guess that means that I've got the left one," Taunter said to herself, heading off down her designated path. This alleyway came to a dead end, leading to a door, which was ajar. "Maybe he came through here." Taunter went inside the door, being very cautious. There might be survivors in there, after all. In front of her was a narrow room that only contained a set of stairs. She climbed up them and found herself in a hallway. "Look out Hunter, here I come."

Hunter came to a dead end in the hallway.

"Dammit," he muttered to himself, turning around to go back. "Why do all these buildings have so many dead ends?" He ran down the hallway, not wanting to lose any time, but just as he was turning the corner, he collided right into someone, and they fell on the ground in a heap.

"A survivor?" he looked around, but saw that it was actually Taunter. "Oh. Great."

"Geez, what's your rush?" Taunter laughed. Hunter was wondering if that was a good laugh or a bad laugh. Frankly, he couldn't tell.

"I'm trying to get away from you guys," Hunter said. He pulled away from her a bit, feeling a bit embarrassed that he had practically landed right on top of her. There was a long pause, and Taunter gave him a big grin.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Saw your face," she giggled quietly.

"Huh?"

"I saw your face!" she said, seeming proud of herself. Hunter was wondering how, then he realized something: His hood had fallen down. The impact of crashing into her must have hit it off.

"N-No you didn't!" he said quickly, tugging his hood back up as fast as he could. "You didn't see anything!"

"Oh, I saw it," Taunter beamed at him. There was a short awkward moment as the two of them simply sat there, not saying anything.

"You're not going to tell anyone about my face, right?" Hunter asked. "I mean, I know that I'm not that ugly, but Calli would still probably be an ass about it."

"Well…okay," Taunter nodded after a moment. "If you don't want me to tell anyone what you look like, I won't tell anyone. I'll just tell Calli that your hoodie is glued to your head or something."

"Heh, okay," Hunter smiled a bit. "Want to go back before everyone else gets in on this thing, too?"

"Sure, let's go," Taunter agreed, and the two of them began to go back to the alley, where they knew that everyone would still probably be cooking in the sun while laying on their mattresses.

"Why isn't he around here?" Calli grumbled, looking around.

"Um…Calli? Hunter's over there…" Jeffry said, pointing in the other direction.

"Huh? But I thought he…oh, never mind," Calli shrugged. "We'll get him back at the hang-out."

"What are you going to do?" Jeffry asked as they began to walk back.

"Things…" Calli smirked mischievously. "Lots and lots of things…"

…...

Okey dokey, time for today's question! :D Yaaaay. :3

If your Infected woke up only to find that everyone else had gone off to do stuff, what would they do alone to entertain themselves?


	9. Wanna Get Cool? Go To the Pool!

Hiiii everyone. Wow, we're almost to chapter ten already :D Lol I don't really have much to say up here today. Though I do have to apologize for one thing. XD You see, I often use indents and paragraph breaks to switches in place or a jump in time, but whenever I put them into a word document, fanfiction destroys them… D: So, sorry if some parts are hard to follow. ^^; Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. CozBlueX owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

…...

"It's…so…hot!" Taunter groaned, staring up at the sky from her mattress. It was another blazingly hot day, and not only that, but the survivors hadn't made another appearance for a while.

"And now that door at the store isn't spewing out cold air anymore, either," Hunter added.

"Why don't you guys just come in here?" Smoker asked from the door to the safe room.

"Too tired…can't move…" Calli rolled over slightly. The only ones who had moved into the safe room were Smoker, Jeffry, Valery, and Claire. The others were trying to stand the heat outside. And it wasn't going very well.

"We've gotta find somewhere else to cool down," Taunter sat up. "If all of us go into the room at once, it'll just be even hotter."

"Well, let's see…" Smoker reached up with his tongue and rummaged around on a shelf until he found a town map. The edges were torn, but it was still possible to see the city.

"What's with all those weird squiggles on it?" Claire asked, taking a look as well.

"That's survivor writing," Smoker replied. "They've got a weird writing system, huh? Anyway, let's see…you want somewhere to cool down? Well, there's a big blue rectangle here. Blue is usually water, right?"

"A pool?" Calli said, now seeming a lot less exhausted as she sat up enthusiastically. "I love swimming!"

"Swimming…not a bad idea," Taunter nodded. "I'll go."

"Does anyone here know how to read a survivor map?" Smoker asked, holding the map out.

"I could try," Boomer replied, coming over and taking the map from him.

"Alright, just don't puke on it."

"Hmm…" Boomer looked at the map for a long while, trying to understand this strange thing that survivors could actually use to get around. "Well, that looks like the grocery store. And if the grocery store is there, that means that we're here. So, if we want to get to the pool, we go out of the alley that way, turn right, then keep walking for a while until we get to a corner with a tree on it, then we turn right again, then we're there."

"You lost me at 'grocery store'," Hunter said, barely even paying attention.

"Why don't you just lead the way?" Sam asked.

"Sounds good to me," Boomer shrugged. "Everyone coming to the pool, follow me." Everyone ended up following him, though not everyone seemed so enthusiastic about it. Boomer gave the map back to Smoker before they left, and Smoker put it back on the shelf. They followed Boomer for a while, then finally they reached the pool. Before them lay a huge building, looking very chic, with several glass and metal walls.

"A rec center?" Mike questioned.

"Since when has there been a rec center here?" Smoker wondered aloud.

"Whatever, it has a pool, so let's go!" Calli said, running inside excitedly. They had to pick their way through the occasional pile of shattered glass, but finally reached the pool, in one of the inner rooms. The room was huge, with a high ceiling sporting bright lights. There were bleachers lining a few sides, then the pool in the center, the water shimmering. The building looked so normal that it was almost as if the infection had never even happened.

"Here it is," Calli grinned. "So…do we need to change or something?"

"What are we supposed to change into?" Taunter asked her.

"Huh, good point. Oh well," Calli shrugged. She ran over to the edge, jumping up into the air over the crystal clear blue water "Cannonball!" As she curled up and landed into the pool, a huge splash of water flew out, soaking anyone near enough to the pool.

"Well, guess I don't have to change anymore," Taunter laughed a bit, shaking off some water from her clothes. Calli's head emerged from the water as she paddled to stay afloat.

"Ah, dammit, Calli," Hunter said, annoyed. "I didn't want to get wet."

"Well, we're at pool, so DUH, you're gonna get wet," Calli laughed. "Scared of a little water, Hunter?"

"No," Hunter replied. "I've been in a pool before, you know." As this conversation went on, Mike noticed some stairs going up to the next floor. He saw them going into a glass walled room, and inside were some treadmills. Perfect for running.

"Hey, I'm gonna head upstairs," he said as he began climbing up the steps.

"Smoker, come in the pool!" Calli called to Smoker as he was about to sit down onto one of the lounge chairs.

"Well, I don't know…" he seemed to be in some indecision. Finally, he came over and sat by the edge, letting his feet swing in the water. "I'll at least come here." Valery sat down on one of the lounge chairs, turning on her ipod. It was way cooler in here than it was outside. It was a great place to relax while they were there. Boomer also took a seat on one of the chairs, the chair creaking out in protest under his weight.

"Hey, look what I found!" Claire said, now over by a pile of pool floaties. She threw a few in, some inflatables and a few noodles, a rainbow of items falling into the water. After tossing them in, she began organizing the remainder of them. She hated to see things out of place.

"So, are you going in?" Hunter asked Taunter as he started heading over towards one of the chairs.

"Maybe," Taunter said, smiling a bit. It looked like she was up to something.

"What are you-hey!" Hunter was unable to stop Taunter as she grabbed his arm, dragging him into the pool with her as she jumped in. When the two of them came up for air, Taunter was laughing, this time in genuine earnest.

"I thought I said that I didn't want to get wet!" Hunter said, trying to sound annoyed, though he couldn't help the smile creeping across his face. Bottom line: Pools were fun. And even he couldn't deny that.

"Sneak attack!" Calli shouted happily, grabbing a pool noodle and swinging it at Hunter in mock slow motion.

"Failed sneak attack," Hunter said in answer, grabbing a noodle of his own to defend himself.

"Interception!" Taunter jumped between the two of them, making a splash that soaked them both. With all the splashing going on in the pool, those who didn't like water, Jeffry for instance, were staying as far away from the edge as they could. Sam had gone up to the work out room a little while ago, and Clawer seemed to have gone into the shallow end of the pool, sitting on the submerged steps.

"So, you're really not going to come in?" Calli asked, coming over and sitting next to Smoker on the edge of the pool while Hunter tried to avoid the splashes that Taunter threw at him.

"Nope, I don't think so," Smoker shook his head.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I don't think I'm coming in."

"I beg to differ," Calli grinned at him.

"Huh?" was all Smoker had time to say before Calli put a hand on his back, pushing him into the pool.

"Oh, great, very funny," Smoker as he came up. But he was still smiling. It was just water, anyway. Calli jumped in after him, landing into the water with a splash.

"That's the third one that's broke," Mike seemed a bit annoyed as he got off of the smoking treadmill.

"Maybe you're running too fast," Sam commented as he did another chin up on a bar sticking out of the wall.

"Heck, I'm running slow!" Mike couldn't help but laugh. "Survivor tech really sucks!"

Jeffry had wandered over to another room adjacent to the pool room. There were so many shiny things in there! Lots of large balls that squished when you touched them, but still shined as if they were metal. There were colored mats adorning the floor as well, and these were also squishy. It seemed like everything in the room was either squishy or shiny. And Jeffry was finding so many ways to entertain himself that he didn't even know where to start.

"Man, it's been so long since I've been in a pool like this," Taunter sighed contentedly as she floated by the others atop a pool floatie.

"Hey, how do you get onto one of those things?" Hunter asked, grabbing one. Maybe it would give his clothes a chance to dry off.

"I don't know, just sit on it from the edge," Taunter replied. Hunter climbed out of the pool, pulling the floatie over to the edge as he did so. But as he went to sit down on it, he ended up sliding off right into the pool. Calli burst out laughing, and Smoker and Taunter couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"That didn't work," Hunter said, coming up from under the water. He tried to pull himself up onto the floatie from in the water, but ended up sliding off again.

"Wow, you're really bad at that, huh?" Calli asked, still laughing.

"It's hard, okay? Geez," Hunter grumbled.

"Watch me do it," Taunter said, pulling the floatie over to the second set of steps coming out of the shallow end. She stood on the second highest step, then sat down into the floatie ring, sank into it a bit, then floated away. "See?"

"Well, yours is a circle. Rectangles are harder," Hunter shrugged.

"I never thought that you, of all people, would give up," Smoker said, brushing some wet hair out of his face.

"I'm not giving up!" Hunter said quickly, not wanting to be undone. He grabbed the floatie, brought it over to the stairs, and tried to get onto it. He managed to cling onto it for a bit, but ended up sliding off in the end, anyway. "Alright, that's it, floating thing, stay still…" Hunter pulled the floatie over to an open spot in the pool, then went over to the edge. He got down onto all fours, then tried to pounce onto the floatie, only succeeding in flipping both the floatie and himself over and into the water.

"Nice," Calli giggled. Hunter pushed the floatie away as he came out from the underwater, grumbling something under his breath.

"Hey, it's okay," Taunter said, getting off of the floatie she was sitting on. "You can just float on your back, too. Just like this." She demonstrated to him the way to float. "Only problem is that you can't see where you're floating to."

"Tell me if Calli's gonna do something," he muttered as he got onto his back on the surface of the water.

"Nah, I'll give you a break for now," Calli shrugged, also deciding to float for a little while. Smoker seated himself on one of the underwater ledges at the edge of the pool.

"It sure feels nice. You know, just floating here," Taunter said after a pause. "I haven't been in a pool since before the infection. And I can't really remember when before that."

"It'll take a pretty long time to dry off, though," Smoker remarked, doing his best to keep his tongue out of the chlorinated water. Calli was doing the same, though she didn't seem as concerned about it.

"Well, it was worth it," Calli smiled. "I mean, even _Hunter_ cheered up. And that's really saying something."

"Meh, it was okay," Hunter said, trying to ignore Calli. "I mean, if you think that splashing around in the water is fun."

"Aw, come on, you were having fun!" Taunter knew that he was just trying to uphold his image with that statement.

"I was not-"

"Yes, you were!" Taunter grinned, splashing him a little.

"Fine, fine, it was a little fun," Hunter smiled a bit, knowing that he couldn't deny it. "Just a little, though."

"Yeah, right. I'd say that you had a lot of fun," Taunter insisted. Smoker looked out the window, realizing that the sun was setting.

"We should probably head back soon," Smoker said, getting out of the pool. "We don't want some random Infected getting into our alley and messing the place up."

"Yeah, true," Calli nodded.

"I'll go get Sam and Mike," Claire said, having finally finished organizing the pool toys, then heading up the stairs.

"I'll go find Jeffry," Boomer stood, heading off towards the door that he had seen Jeffry go through. Clawer got out of the pool as well, and Taunter could have sworn that she saw him slip something a bright yellow color into his pocket, but ignored it.

"We're probably still going to be wet tomorrow," Hunter commented, climbing out of the pool.

"Oh well, it was worth it, right?" Calli joined the group at the door. Soon enough, everyone was present and accounted for, and they had started to make their way back to the alley.

"Well, I've discovered something important today," Calli announced.

"What's that?" Sam asked.

"Hunter isn't a total stick in the mud after all," Calli smiled contentedly.

"Gee, thanks," Hunter said. He didn't really do anything though, seeing as he was a bit worn out.

"We should go back there again sometime," Taunter said, a little bit of a bounce in her step.

"Maybe we'll make it a weekly thing?" Smoker suggested.

"Maybe not that often," Hunter disagreed.

"Aw, come on! Weekly sounds great!" Calli objected to Hunter's disapproval. "Geez. You are a stick in the mud after all." There was a small noise off in a side alley, which only Jeffry seemed to hear. He turned to look, but didn't see anything. He decided that it must be a Common, and continued along with the group.

"Hey, I'm just saying that we can't do it that much," Hunter tried to defend his decision.

"Yeah, it gets less special if we do it too much," Taunter agreed with him. "Maybe once every other week?"

"Sure, that sounds good," Hunter nodded.

"You're only agreeing 'cause it's Taunter saying it," Calli smirked, rolling away on her skateboard before Hunter could do anything.

"Hey! Dammit, Calli!" Hunter shouted after her.

As the group walked away, little did they know of who was back in the alley that Jeffry had looked into.

"Well, I'll be," Ellis murmured. "Since when do Infected walk around all buddy-buddy like that?"

"Should we get rid of them?" Rochelle asked.

"Gunshots would attract more Infected," Coach told her. "I don't think that we should go after them."

"Yeah," Nick agreed. "Let's just find a safe room."

"Do you think that they've got some sorta zombie clubs or something?" Ellis asked as they walked away. "Oh, ya know, that reminds me of this one time, when me and my buddy Keith-"

"Not now, Ellis."

"Alright, alright. But seriously. It's a good story…"

…...

I can tell you that Hunter's moment with the pool floaties was actually based off of me. XD I can't get on those darn things! D: I actually seriously tried the Hunter pounce to get onto one, once…it was fail. XD

Alright, question of the chapter!

If your Infected was able to hang out with ANY of the other main characters of the story, who would they most likely hang out with?

Also, now that all of the OCs have been established, could you guys tell me what your characters think of the other OCs, Hunter, Smoker, and Boomer, Tank, and Witch? Thanks! ^^


	10. Caffeine: Good for the Soul

Yay, chapter ten! X3 Wow, we're halfway done already! :o Anyway, I hope that you guys are having fun with this! :D Also, be sure to check out my new story, The New Kids In Town: Origins. It's a kind of side story thing that explains the past of the characters and shows how they became Infected. I hope you guys like that one, too! X3 Anyway, here we go! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. CozBlueX owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

A special disclaimer just for this chapter: I do not own Starbucks! Lol. XD

Taunter was strolling around the city again. Everyone else was still back at the alley. When she had left, Hunter had been apparently trying to beat Sam in some sort of glaring contest while everyone else watched Calli paint something on the wall. Taunter, on the other hand, had wanted to take a walk. It was a nice day, not as hot as it had been the past few. And when she looked past all the Commons stumbling around like drunkards, the city was actually a pretty nice place. Really quiet, once again, other than the Commons. Still, she was on the look out for any survivors. If she saw any, she would probably get killed, since she'd never fought before. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to go alone after all. Taunter came to a building that she hadn't seen before, and looked up at the entrance sign. It had some weird writing on it, on a green circle. In the middle of the circle was a picture of some lady drawn in white on a black background, and she was wearing some kind of crown with a star on the top.

"That's weird," she said to herself as she walked inside. It looked like a café of some sort. There were tables with chairs near the front, and towards the back was a counter, behind which were several machines that she didn't recognize at all. There were cups everywhere, and one was spilled on the counter. She walked over and looked at the brown liquid splashed across the granite countertop. There was a nice scent coming off of it, but she couldn't describe it at all. Rich, but at the same time bitter. She saw another cup, which had apparently just been prepared, and picked it up. She sniffed it, then took a little sip.

"Blech," she said, sticking out her tongue a bit. But she still found herself drinking more. And the more she sipped up, the better it seemed to taste. "What is this stuff anyway?" She drank down the rest of the small cup, but she didn't feel quite satisfied. "Whatever." She picked up a few more prepared cups, then went over to a table, sitting down for a drink.

It was a little bit later when Hunter finally let up glaring at Sam. It obviously wasn't going to change anything.

"So I win?" Sam asked as Hunter looked away.

"Nah, I called it off," Hunter said quickly, not wanting to lose against Sam.

"You can't call it off, I won," Sam grinned happily.

"So…Calli, what is that exactly?" Boomer asked as Calli continued to fill up a portion of the wall with abstract swirls from her spray paint cans.

"It's a painting. Duh," Calli laughed.

"That's not really what I meant…"

"Well, either way," Smoker said, noting the blue and red of the paintings covering almost all the walls that surrounded them, "I'd say that we're the most patriotic alley in town, if that counts for anything."

"Hey, everyone!" came a sudden shout. They all turned to see Taunter dashing into the alley, a wide grin plastered onto her face.

"Uh…what's up?" Mike asked the question that pretty much everyone else was wondering.

"I found something GREAT!" she said enthusiastically, punctuating each sentence with a burst of laughing. "It's so great that I don't even know how great it is! Great, great, great!"

"Are you okay?" Hunter asked, wondering exactly what was wrong with her. She was laughing so hard at this point now that she could barely talk.

"I have to show you! Come with me! Come, come!" she grabbed Hunter's arm and started dragging him out of the alley.

"Uhh, where are we going?" Hunter asked as he was pulled away.

"To the drink sign lady!"

"The what?"

"I wanna see, too!" Calli called, putting away her paint cans and running to catch up.

"I'll come," Mike said, standing up and following them. Jeffry decided to go along, too. Just to see what could be so great.

"I'd better go, too," Smoker said after a moment. "If it's just those guys, they'll probably end up breaking something." He stood up, following behind. Taunter continued babbling on as she led them to the building, talking so fast that they could hardly understand her.

"It's so great, I mean, it smelled bad and it tasted bad, but then it was so GOOD! And then I drank some more and more and more and it was so tasty and I love it! But I don't know what it is, I mean, I guess that survivors make good drinks, huh? They must really know how to make drinks and stuff, cause it tastes really good! I wonder what it is, I mean cause it's all brown like chocolate milk or something but it's NOT chocolate milk, and-"

"My ears are going to fall off!" Smoker groaned, cutting her off. "Please, just stop."

"In here, in here!" Taunter led them into the building, finally letting go of Hunter's arm. "You've gotta try this stuff!" She picked up a cup from one of the tables and started chugging it down eagerly, then put the empty cup onto the table. "So GOOD!"

"What is this anyway?" Calli said, picking up a cup.

"It smells weird," Hunter said, sniffing another one of the cups that sat on the tables. "I'm not drinking it."

"Well, Taunter drank it," Mike said. "I mean, she's not dead, right?"

"Yeah, but she's like that," Hunter pointed to Taunter as she broke out into giggles, running in place out of the need to move and expend energy.

"Sugar rush?" Smoker asked with a shrug. "Maybe she just drank too much."

"But it doesn't smell sugary."

"Whatever, I'm trying it," Calli took a small sip. "Huh…that's not half bad." Smoker picked up a cup as Calli continued to drink hers, looking at the brown liquid inside warily.

"Well, never know 'til you try," he said, taking a drink.

"Isn't it good? It's good, right?" Taunter asked, still with a half insane grin across her face. "I love it! I love it, I love it, I love it! I love it so much!"

"We can tell," Hunter said bluntly, still not making a move to take a cup. Mike picked up a cup, sloshing the contents around a bit before drinking some.

"You know, they're right. This is pretty good," he said to Hunter.

"Come on, just try it! Try it!" Taunter urged Hunter.

"Fine, fine, I'll drink some of your mystery drink," Hunter finally relented picking up a cup of his own. While all the others went for the cups on the table, Jeffry took interest in a case off to the side. It held lots and lots of shiny plastic bottles, all of them holding liquids of all the colors of the rainbow. He opened the door to the cabinet, taking a few of the drinks out. After some time with the bottles, he figured out that you could open it by twisting the top. He concluded that he would drink the stuff inside, then keeping the bottles for his collection.

"Man, this stuff is great!" Calli said, now on her third cup.

"I know, right?" Taunter laughed, picking up what would probably have been her sixth.

"Well…yeah, it guess it's okay," Hunter finally said after taking a small drink. "Not great, but it's fine."

"I'm gonna need some more of this," Mike said, searching for a second cup now that his first was finished.

"Seems familiar somehow," Smoker said, still on his first. "…Whatever."

The rest of the group, back at the alley, was wondering exactly when everyone else was going to get back.

"Boring," Claire said, hanging upside down from the fire escape. "Boomer, tell me a joke or something."

"Okay, let's see…" Boomer thought for a moment on what joke he should say. "Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"Abbott."

"Abbott who?"

"Abbott time you answered the door!" Boomer said, laughing a bit to himself. Claire stared at him dully. This went on for around fifteen minutes until suddenly, they heard a huge 'woosh'-ing noise, and a wind blew through the alley. At the same moment, a streak of color had flown in front of the alley entrance.

"What was that?" Valery asked, taking out her ear buds.

"I've got no idea…" Sam walked to the front of the alley. "Hello?" The 'woosh'-ing returned, and Mike was suddenly standing in front of him.

"Hey, Sam," Mike said, shaking a bit, though he had a grin on his face.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, you know, we found this really great brown stuff, and it tasted really good, and now, I can run really fast! Well, I always could, but now I'm faster than ever!"

"Uh…huh," Sam nodded slowly. "Sooo, you're running?"

"Yeah, see ya!" Mike shouted before he took off again, the wind from his velocity nearly blowing Sam's hood off.

"They're eating…brown stuff?" Clawer asked from the back of the alley.

"I don't even wanna know," Claire shook her head. But suddenly, they heard a boisterous racket coming closer to the alley. Everyone else must be coming back. Jeffie was the first to come in.

"What's going on?" Boomer asked him.

"I think they're all crazy now," Jeffie replied, sipping his juice.

"What were they eating?"

"Not eating, drinking."

"Drinking brown stuff…?" Boomer thought for a moment. "Wait…what was it called…? Oh, right. Coffee?"

"They drank a whole lot," Jeffie nodded, heading back towards the safe room to put the bottles he had emptied into one of his boxes.

"Oh. That's not good," Boomer said, sighting the group coming closer to the alley.

"Heeeey guys!" Calli shouted, rolling into the alley on her skateboard, spraying the walls with paint as she went.

"Hi, Calli."

"Boomer!" Calli shouted suddenly, facing him. "Your shirt looks stupid! Let me fix it!" Without warning, she sprayed her paint onto Boomer's shirt, and he could only cover his face from the flying red and blue.

"Much better," she smiled when she was done, letting out a laugh and rolling further into the alley. "Art! Art is great!" Taunter came in after her, cackling like she had just come out of a mental institute, while Smoker nearly tripped as he came in, jittery and twitching.

"What's up with you guys?" Claire asked.

"T-Ten cups!" Smoker shouted. "I had ten cups!"

"I had twelve, I wiiin!" Taunter laughed, jumping up and down on her mattress.

"Are you okay?" Boomer asked, regarding Smoker's twitching.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Smoker said, still twitching erratically. "I'm so full of energy, I've never felt better! Never better!" Calli was still rolling around the back, spraying paint around and not really caring whether there was anyone between the paint spray and the wall.

"So…" Boomer paused. "Hey, where's Hunt-"

"SURPRISE!" Hunter shouted, jumping down from the roof and almost landing on Boomer, who practically jumped a foot in the air in surprise. "HA! I scared you! I scared you, Boomer got scared!"

"Don't tell me that you're all hyped up, too," Boomer sighed.

"I'm not hyped up, I'm EMPOWERED!"

"I think that you're just crazy," Sam said, coming back into the alley.

"You didn't drink NINE CUPS of that stuff, did you, Sam?" Hunter asked, an unevenly hyper edge to his voice as he spoke. "I THINK NOT! I beat you! Ha! I beat you, I drank more, I won! I won, I beat Sam!"

"…Okay then," Sam said after a moment, sitting down. He knew that they would all wind down after a little while. A wind blew through the back of the alley as Mike ran through the opposite end, nearly knocking Calli over while he shouted,

"Fifth lap! I'm on the fifth lap!"

"Careful!" Calli called, spraying paint after him.

"GAH!" Smoker shouted with a large twitch. "I'm fine! I'm fine!"

"You're not fine," Boomer shook his head.

"I'm fine, I'm totally fine, fine, fine!" Smoker told him, seeming to be having trouble not randomly shouting out again.

"Hey, hey, Sam!" Hunter shouted. "I bet that I could beat you up to that building! I'm so gonna beat you up there! Ready, set, go!" Hunter jumped up immediately, but Sam didn't make any move to even get up. As Hunter landed, he turned around and smiled triumphantly down upon the alley. "See? I told you, I told you! Whoo!" He ran onto the middle section of the roof, singing a little tune, "I am the champion, my friends! And IIII'll keep on fighting! 'Til the end! Noooo time for losers, 'cause I am the chaaampiiiion!" He jumped down into the alley again, nearly knocking Claire down as he bounced off of the fire escape.

"Yay, Hunter wins! Hunter wins!" Taunter cheered.

"Thank you, thank you!" Hunter called, taking a bow to the one member of his supposed audience.

"Okay, time to calm down…" Boomer stood up, trying to calm the rowdy Infected.

"Calm down? I don't have to listen to you!" Hunter grinned, jumping away down the alley. "Fight the power! Fight it!"

"Phew…" Taunter's laughing was calming down now. "Wow…I feel kind of tired…" She practically toppled over down to the mattress, catching herself at the last second. Sam had been right. The crash was coming.

"Haha, she fell down," Calli giggled, tossing aside an empty paint can, though she herself was beginning to feel tired.

"Aw, come on, wake up," Hunter said, poking her a bit, then jumping away. "Fine, sleep and miss everything!" Calli stepped down off of her skateboard, stumbling over to her mattress and lying down. Boomer turned to Smoker, only to see that he was already snoring.

"So, Hunter's the only one left, then," Boomer turned to Hunter.

"I'm not going to sleep!" Hunter announced before Boomer could even say anything. "You can't make me go to bed! I'm not going to bed!"

"Geez, you sound like a little kid," Sam commented.

"Well…uh…YOUR FACE sounds like a little kid!" was how Hunter chose to reply. He sprung upwards again, alighting on the roof. "Ha! Try and get me now!" He went over to the other side of the roof, but suddenly felt quite heavy. Well, at least he was out of reach now. And it wasn't Boomer _making_ him go to sleep…yeah, it was his own decision. So, he lay down onto the roof, dropping off to sleep.

"Well…that was strange," Valery said after a pause.

"They drank that stuff that you called 'coffee', right?" Claire asked Boomer.

"Yeah," Boomer nodded.

"Never again," Sam remarked.

"Yeah," Boomer nodded a second time. "Never again."

Boomer and Sam went out looking for Mike later, and found him sprawled, asleep, in the middle of the street. They brought him back to the alley, hoping that none of the hyped up Infected would ever go back to that place. Ever. Again.

…...

And it only just occurs to me now that I should have had Jeffie accidentally drink a Red Bull or something. XD But oh well, too late now. :P Anyway, time for the question of the chapter :D Okay, this one's an easy one. XD Oh, and for those of you who have an OC lined up for the sequel story, please answer these questions anyway. XD And as for those of you who didn't know, there IS going to be a sequel to this story. :3 This one is going to have twenty chapters, then I'll start the sequel. :D But no spoilers, so it's a surprise. X3 Anyway, here's the question!

What is your Infected's favorite color? :P


	11. Detective Smoker, On The Case!

You can blame this chapter on me playing Phoenix Wright for four hours straight today. XD Anyway, I hope that you guys enjoy! :3 Anyone who spots the South Park reference gets a cookie! And once again, it's around one in the morning, so sorry for any grammar errors. D:

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. CozBlueX owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

Another special disclaimer: I don't own the used lines from Sherlock Holmes. :3

…...

"We brought some more dead cow from the food store over there. But it smells sort of weird," Hunter said as he and Smoker walked into the alley, only having just retrieved some more food. Everyone in the alley seemed a bit more subdued than usual.

"What's up, guys?" Smoker asked, seeming a bit confused as to what's going on.

"There's been a crime here in the alley," Taunter told him.

"A crime?" Smoker asked.

"Yeah. A murder," Mike said nonchalantly.

"A what?" Hunter shouted. "There was really a murder?"

"No. Not really," Mike grinned, and Hunter grumbled something incoherently.

"But something did happen," Boomer cut in. "The hat that Jeffry usually wears has gone missing."

"So?" Hunter asked. "Can't you get another one?"

"No, I can't. It was special," Jeffry replied quietly. "I didn't take it off, but when I woke up, it was just gone."

"Huh…that's weird. Who would want to take your hat?" Smoker wondered aloud.

"Well, that's why I thought that we could ask for your help, Smoker," Boomer explained. "Remember that one time when we lost Hunter's-"

"I did not lose it, a Common stole it!" Hunter interjected.

"Whatever you say," Boomer shrugged. "Either way, you're the one who found it, Smoker. You're pretty good at figuring things out."

"You really expect me to be a detective again?" Smoker sighed.

"You were a detective?" Calli asked with a smile.

"Yeah, for about two days or something."

"Will you take the case?" Valery asked, also seeming concerned for Jeffry.

"Yeah, I really miss my hat," Jeffry added. "Not wearing my hat feels just about as bad as missing an arm or a leg, to me at least."

"Pfft. Doubt it," Hunter shook his head, entering the alley to put the meat into the safe room.

"Well, since everyone is getting so gloomy about it and stuff…" Smoker paused. "I guess I'll take the case. But I can't really say that I'll find your hat. First, I need to get something." Smoker passed by Hunter as he left the safe room, going inside and digging around inside a box. "Ah, here it is." Smoker exited the safe room, now sporting a wooden pipe instead of a cigarette.

"You really kept that old thing?" Hunter asked, surprised.

"Alright, if he has the pipe, he means business," Boomer smiled.

"I'm going to need a note taker," Smoker announced, holding his pipe in a very detective-like way.

"Me! Me! Me!" Calli shouted, waving her hand and tongue in the air. "Pick me!"

"Alright, Calli, you can help me out," Smoker nodded. "You can find a note pad and a pen or something in the room."

"Gotcha," Calli ran into the room, looking for the required items. Smoker turned out towards the rest of the alley.

"None of you can leave until I get this solved," he announced. "Anyone here could be the criminal, and I don't want whoever it is getting away."

"But it couldn't have been me," Hunter remarked. "I mean, I was with you, getting food, the whole time."

"Everyone is a suspect," Smoker answered him. "Even my assistant is a suspect."

"Aw, man!" Calli could be heard from inside the safe room. A minute later, she came out with a pad of crumpled paper and an pencil she had found.

"Okay, first off, describe the hat for us," Smoker said to Jeffry.

"But don't you know what it looks like? I'm always wearing it," Jeffry replied.

"Well…then, we can skip that part," Smoker said quickly. "Alright, on to the interrogations! Who's first?" He got no response. "Well, then, has anybody even seen Jeffry's hat?" Still no response. "Okay…I'll have to think about this for a while. Everyone, stay out here." Smoker went into the safe room, Calli following closely behind.

"Do you know who it is?" she asked.

"Well, first we need to think about motive," Smoker told her. "Who would have a reason to steal Jeffry's hat?"

"Well, no one would want it to wear it. It would be too small for them, right?" Calli guessed.

"Exactly," Smoker nodded. "So maybe whoever it was did it because they just don't like Jeffry. Who around here doesn't like Jeffry?"

"Well, I don't know. Everyone seems to like him. He's like a little brother."

"We've actually seen a lot of people be nice to him…" Smoker thought for a moment. "I know that Boomer, Taunter, you, me, and Valery don't hold grudges against Jeffry. And I'm pretty sure that Mike doesn't either, since he didn't seem annoyed at Jeffry or anything when we went to that drink shop a few days ago."

"So, that leaves…Hunter, Sam, Clawer, and Claire."

"And don't forget about Tank and Witch."

"They don't even know him, though."

"That's what they want you to think," Smoker said thoughtfully. "…At least, I think it is. Can you write down their names? No, wait, never mind that, writing stuff down is stupid. We don't need writing, we need action!" Smoker stepped outside. "We have a list of prime suspects. We're going to need to have you come in here one at a time to be interrogated. We'll need someone who's not on the list to go get Tank and Witch…how about you, Taunter?"

"Yay, I'm not a suspect!" Taunter cheered. "Alright, I'll go get them!" She stood up, making her way out of the alley.

"Who are the suspects?" Boomer asked.

"Hunter, Sam, Claire, Clawer, Witch, and Tank are all on our prime suspect list," Smoker replied.

"Smoker, I couldn't have done it!" Hunter insisted. "I was with you at the store when it happened!"

"Or maybe that's just what you _want _me to think."

"Uh…yeah. I do. 'Cause it's true!"

"Anyway, we're starting now!" Smoker said, ignoring Hunter. "First up, Sam."

"So, Sam," Smoker said once he, Calli, and Sam were situated in the safe room. "What do you think of the case?"

"Well, I guess that I want Jeffry to get his hat back," Sam shrugged. "I mean, I don't know who took it. Or how they could take it right off his head while he was sleeping, anyway."

"That's a good point…" Smoker said, thinking things over. "Only someone with acute control over their hands could have taken if off. You and Hunter, both being Hunter Infected, aren't that gentle with your hands."

"Well, no, I guess not," Sam shook his head.

"And Tank's hands would have been too big to do it…and Witch couldn't have done it because of her claws!"

"Nope, I guess not."

"Okay, you're off the list. We've narrowed things down to two suspects. Thanks, Sam," Smoker said, standing up. "Our last two suspects are Claire and Clawer, then."Well, I'm pretty sure that Claire didn't do it," Sam said as he started to leave. "Still, just go ahead doing your detective stuff."

"So, how'd it go?" Claire asked as Sam came out.

"I narrowed down the suspect list to two suspects," Sam smiled confidently.

"Show off," Hunter grumbled.

Smoker and Calli were still inside the safe room, talking things over.

"So, it's either Claire or Clawer, huh?" Calli said. "I wonder why one of them did it?"

"Well, Claire does like to organize things. Maybe his hat just seemed out of place. On his head. Yeah. And as for Clawer…well, I don't know why he would do it. I mean, he hardly talks. I don't really know him," Smoker concluded. "I think that we should investigate the scene of the crime."

"Alright, let's go!" Calli grinned.

"Okay, off to the crime scene!" Smoker declared, facing the door. The two of them paused. "Okay, we're here! Now, start looking around for clues and stuff." The two of them looked around the room, glancing into the different boxes and corners.

"Jeffry does sleep in here, right?" Smoker asked.

"Sometimes," Calli replied. "Let's go ask where he was when his hat went missing." The two of them walked outside, where the others were waiting.

"Hey, Jeffry, where were you sleeping when your hat got taken away?" Calli asked, preferring to doodle on her pad of paper now that she wasn't taking notes.

"I was sleeping out here, since the safe room got really stuffy," Jeffry replied. "The window was closed, and I couldn't really reach it to open it again, since it's so high up. So, I moved out here to sleep, and when I woke up the next morning, my hat was gone."

"Alright, so the crime scene is out here, then," Smoker observed. "Let's look around for clues."

"I've got footprints!" Calli announced almost immediately. Smoker took a look as well.

"There are some footprints here! Alright, let's follow them," Smoker said, and he and Calli started off on the trail. It led into the street, and continued on a very familiar path. The muddy footprints in fact led them into the grocery store, back to the meat section.

"Meat…how does meat connect to Jeffry's hat?" Calli wondered.

"Elementary, my dear Calli," Smoker replied, smoking his pipe. "Obviously, whoever it was, got hungry."

"…you got the pipe just so you could say that, didn't you?"

"…maybe," Smoker paused for a moment, noticing something. "Look at this. The footprints double back. Let's follow them." They continued to follow the footprints, and surprisingly were led right back to the alley.

"And so…the criminal…" Smoker said as he was nearing the end of the trail, "…is…" he looked up, pointing at who the trail led to, "you!"

"How many times do I have to say this?" Hunter groaned in annoyance. "Smoker, I was with you when this thing happened!"

"But the footprints lead right to you! Incriminating evidence!" Smoker announced. "You took Jeffry's hat, went to the grocery store to get food, then came back here. Alright, fork over the hat."

"Wait, you went to the grocery store?" Hunter asked, seeming annoyed at Smoker. "Hate to break it to you, but do you think that you're following my footprints from when the two of us just went to get food? I stepped in some mud by on my way out of the alley, remember?"

"Well, I'd say that-" Smoker stopped mid sentence, realizing that Hunter was right. "Oh. Well, my deduction was just a ruse in itself anyway! It proves you're innocent, because you didn't crack under pressure!"

"Great going, Sherlock," Hunter said sarcastically, probably rolling his eyes.

"Let's look for more footprints," Calli suggested. "I saw a lot of mud around the alley. There might be another set of prints."

"Right," Smoker nodded, and the two of them continued looking for footprints again.

"I sure hope that you can find it," Jeffry mumbled.

"Don't worry, Jeffie, we'll find your hat!" Calli said with a smile.

"Aha!" Smoker shouted suddenly. "More footprints!"

"Where does it go?" Calli asked, coming over to him.

"That way," Smoker said, pointing down an adjacent alleyway. "Let's follow them." Smoker and Calli followed the trail for quite a while, and soon enough they came to a building. There were some stairs, leading down to a basement of some sort, and the print went down there.

"Be ready for anything," Smoker said to Calli as he took the doorknob. "This could be some sort of elaborate trap or something like that." Smoker opened the door slowly, and looked inside. There was a simple room in there, with a couch, a sink, and even a T.V., among other things. And sitting on top of the T.V., next to a curious rubber duck, was Jeffry's hat.

"We found it!" Calli said, picking up the hat. "Jeffry is going to be so glad!"

"Does someone live here?" Smoker wondered aloud, looking around before the two of them exited.

"So, do you think that it's Claire? Or Clawer?" Calli asked as they walked up the steps. As they turned to leave, though, the noted some graffiti on the wall of the building, which clearly read "Beware the Clawer".

"I think it was Clawer. Just a hunch," Smoker replied, looking at the wall, then Calli. "Well, time to dish out some justice."

"Okay, you be the good cop, I'll be the bad cop," Calli said excitedly.

"I think that just an apology will do, right?"

"Aww…fine. I guess." The two of them walked back into the alley, and Calli held out Jeffry's hat to the excited little Infected.

"Ta-da!" she said as Jeffry took his hat, putting it back on eagerly.

"Thanks, guys!" Jeffry said, obviously happy. "I really don't know what I would do without my hat, so thanks a lot!"

"So, who took it?" Valery asked.

"We've figured out the criminal," Smoker said, talking to everyone in the alley. "And we've decided that it's-"

"J'accuse!" Calli shouted, pointing at Clawer dramatically.

"Uh…what?" Clawer asked, clearly not understanding Calli's French accusation (which she had picked up from some old movie poster, anyway).

"We found a strange little basement," Smoker explained. "That's where Jeffry's hat was. And outside, it said on the wall, "Beware the Clawer". So, basically, we figured that it was your basement."

"It's not my basement," Clawer shrugged.

"It's not?" Calli asked. "Oh, good, 'cause I put the duck into the toilet."

"You WHAT?" Clawer exclaimed, obviously horrified at the idea of said duck going into the toilet.

"Just kidding," Calli grinned.

"Sooo, it _is_ your basement, judging by your reaction," Smoker concluded. "I'm not going to bother to ask about why you stole Jeffry's hat, but you need to apologize now." It was silent for a moment. Jeffry was looking to Clawer, expecting an "I'm sorry".

"Fine," Clawer said in an exasperated voice. "I'm sorry for taking your stupid hat."

"It's not stupid," Jeffry objected. "It's the best hat I've ever known, actually. But I guess that you're forgiven."

"So…" Clawer turned to Calli. "You…didn't really put the duck into the toilet, right?"

"Maybe," Calli said with a shrug. There was another short silence.

"I'll…be right back," Clawer said, dashing down the alley that Smoker and Calli had gone down to find his secret room.

"Hey, everyone!" Taunter came into the alley. "I found Tank and Witch! Sorry it took so long."

"Oh, well, we're done," Smoker said, tossing his pipe through the door of the safe room and into a box, taking out a cigarette and lighting it. "Sorry."

"So I cam here for _nothing_?" Tank asked, irritated as he walked away.

"I always miss everything!" Witch sobbed as she walked off in the other direction.

"So…I'm guessing that it was Clawer?" Taunter asked, noticing who was missing.

"Yup," Calli nodded.

"Hey, Smoker, why don't you end your case like you used to end them?" Hunter asked with a snicker.

"No, no…" Smoker shook his head. "It's stupid."

"Come on, Smoker, for old times sake!" Boomer urged him on.

"Guys, it's really stupid…" Smoker insisted.

"A special case ending thing? I wanna see it!" Calli smiled.

"Calli, seriously, it's really-"

"Please?" Calli asked, making puppy dog eyes at Smoker. Puppy dog eyes had always been his weak point.

"Fine, fine," Smoker sighed. "Just don't laugh."

"We won't laugh," Taunter nodded. Smoker cleared his throat. He paused, then sighed again.

"Another case closed," he starting reciting his old motto, lacking proper enthusiasm. "If you've got a mystery that makes you say 'God damn!', then I'm your man." There was a long pause.

"That gets funnier every time," Hunter said, breaking out into laughing so hard that he nearly fell over.

"You said you wouldn't laugh!" Smoker was feeling embarrassed.

"Hey, _I _never said anything," Hunter told him, still laughing.

"Well, I thought that it was nice," Calli said in Smoker's defense.

"Yeah, if he was on some stupid cheesy T.V. show."

"…I'm never solving a mystery ever again," Smoker stated simply, walking into the safe room to get more cigarettes.

"Oh no! Hunter, now look what you did!" Calli shouted, following after Smoker.

"Uh…cue the credits?" Taunter asked with a half laugh, while Hunter was still laughing his butt off in the background.

"Sure," Sam shrugged. "Works for me."

…...

Jeffry seemed a bit more talkative than usual in this chapter. XD Lol I almost forgot to put Mike in with the "why you're not a suspect" explanations. XD I noticed at the last second, thankfully. :D Did any of you get the South Park reference? Lol I didn't even mean to put it in there, I just noticed it. XD And check it out, I used a French word in the chapter! Aren't I fancy lol. XD Anyway, here is the question for this chapter!

What was your Infected's name before the infection? Was it the one they have now? Or is the one they have now one that they made up for themselves?


	12. Trouble With Tires

Sorry that this one took longer than usual. XD I was trying to think up an idea, but I couldn't come up with anything for a while. D: So, now I'm gonna post this, because I finally got an idea. :D Anyway, enjoy! ^^

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. CozBlueX owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

…...

It was around noon, and Taunter, having been unable to find anyone else back at the alley, was searching the city for them. Where would they have gone without waiting for her? She had just wanted to go talk to Witch for a while. Maybe cheer her up. Though…she had ended up freaking out, laughing, then running away again. So, now she was looking around for her friends. She finally found them near the entrance of town. Tank was clearing cars off of the road, and everyone else seemed to be building some huge kind of contraption. It looked like Hunter was leading the project.

"What's going on?" Taunter asked, walking over to the group.

"Well, I was trying to think of some way that we could corner the survivors," Hunter replied. "So, I thought of this!" He indicated to the would-be trap behind him, on which everyone was still working.

"How does it work?" Taunter questioned, curious now.

"It's a bit complicated, but it'll work," Hunter said, beginning his explanation. "See all those tires up there? We got them off all the abandoned cars. So, we're keeping them all up there with a rope net that we took from one of those fishing boats near the pond. The net is attached to those ropes, which go up those telephone poles, and onto the telephone wire. It goes over the wire, then down to where it's tied down to the ground. We'll do something to lure the survivors onto this street, then cut the rope, and all the tires will roll down the hill onto them. They won't be able to run off the road, because they'll be inside this tunnel here." Hunter took a second to point to the tunnel that was opposite the rig that was being worked on, down the hill. "The tires will chase them down the tunnel. They might not be able to run fast enough, then the tires will knock them all down, and we can get them. If they do run fast enough, we'll go to the other end of the tunnel, trapping them inside, and then the tires will hit them anyway! It's a foolproof plan!"

"Wow, you thought of all of this by yourself?" Taunter asked, impressed.

"No, I thought of most of it," Smoker called down to her, having overheard. "Hunter just wanted to run over the survivors with something or other. But I thought of how to build this thing."

"But it was my idea to build anything in the first place, right? So it was my idea," Hunter grinned, feeling proud of himself. "Either way, we're going to have some good, fresh meat tonight!"

"Can I help build it?" Taunter said, excited about the plan. "This is gonna be fun!"

"Sure, I could use some help over here!" Calli called. It looked like she was busy securing the knots in the ropes keeping the net in position. Jeffry, Mike, and Valery were rolling tires over from where Sam was taking them off of the cars that Tank moved off the road. Boomer was checking the tunnel, just in case there were any other exits, and Claire was busy up on top of the telephone poles, making sure that the ropes were in the right place. Clawer, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he was in his basement. Taunter went over to where Calli was struggling to get the second knot done.

"I have no clue how to tie these things," Calli muttered. "I can't remember how."

"Neither can I," Taunter shrugged. "Let's just try to make it work." It took them quite a while, but between the two of them, they managed to make something that slightly resembled a knot.

"Do you think that that'll hold?" Taunter wondered aloud.

"Sure, it will!" Calli said confidently. "Now, let's get the next one done." It took them a few hours, but they finally got everything done. The whole trap was in place.

"Alright, next part is to get the survivors over here, then," Sam said as the group met up in the center of the road.

"How do we do that?" Valery asked.

"We use live bait," Hunter replied simply.

"Live bait?" Mike said, seeming skeptical. "You didn't say that before."

"Well, before I was thinking that we could have Witch get them over here, but I don't wanna mess up her already destroyed self-esteem any more than it already is. So, two of us will go find the survivors and lead them over here. So, who's going?" He was met with absolute silence. "What? So you all want to tear up survivors, and now you won't even get near them?"

"Hey, what about you?"

"I have to stay here and make sure that it works."

"That makes no sense-"

"Alright, alright, I have a way to decide," Smoker said, worried that an argument would start. He walked off the road, into the tall grass, and pulled some stalks out of the ground, snapping them off at places. He came back with a bunch of them, their tips concealed within his fist. "Okay, so whichever two of us pick the smallest ones of these have to go be bait. Sound good?" Everyone agreed to it, and each of them took turns picking out a stalk from Smoker's hand.

"Aw, come on!" Hunter shouted, realizing that he had gotten one of the shorter ones. "Redo! I call a redo!"

"Yeah, I got one, too," Taunter agreed with him. "I can't be bait, I don't even know how to fight."

"But you both run fast," Smoker told them.

"Then make Mike go," Hunter grumbled. "He runs fast."

"But he's too fast for this. Plus, he got one of the longer ones."

"It's okay, I guess," Taunter sighed. "Let's just go." She and Hunter started walking away, Hunter grumbling something yet again.

"Just be ready when we get back here with them," Hunter called as they left.

"Alright, places, people," Smoker said to everyone, initiating the operation. "We all know that there are going to be a lot of pissed people if this doesn't work, so let's make it work, okay?"

Hunter and Taunter had been looking around for a while, and still hadn't seen the survivors. But they knew that they were nearby. They could hear them. Carefully, the two of them looked around a corner, and saw the four survivors walking quietly down an alleyway, their guns at the ready.

"What should we do to make them follow us?" Taunter whispered.

"Hang on…I have an idea," Hunter smiled a bit, coming up with a plan. "You get ready to run back there. We'll meet up on the street."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Just go over there, and be ready to run really fast."

"Okay, whatever you say," Taunter said, going away to the other side of their hiding spot.

"I can't believe that that guy wants us to bring him Coke," the one in the white suit was groaning in annoyance. "Does he really need his precious Coke up in his little safe house?"

"Well, I dunno, Nick," the guy in the baseball cap replied. "I don't think that I could survive very long without soda either. You know, that reminds me of one time when my buddy Keith-" His upcoming long winded story was cut off by his own surprise when his hat was snatched right off of his head. Hunter stopped at the entrance to the alley, waving the hat around while the four survivors stared at him.

"Hey! He got my hat!" the guy, now lacking his cap, shouted. "Gimme back my hat!" He had started going down the alley, and Hunter had taken off.

"Ellis, get back here!" the white suited one shouted. "We've got to stick together!"

"That was your plan?" Taunter asked as she and Hunter ran, one very angry survivor, with the other three just behind him, right on their tails.

"Sure, why not?" Hunter grinned. But suddenly, there was gun fire behind them, and bullets flew right to their left.

"Give me my damn hat!" baseball-cap-lacking-guy was shouting.

"You'll attract more Infected, Ellis, be quiet!" white suit guy was saying, the other two agreeing with him.

"I don't care, he can't have my hat!" Another bout of gunfire.

"Let's make a break for it!" Taunter squeaked, letting out a smattering of laughter.

"We already are, aren't we?" Hunter asked. "Geez! Fine, take your stupid hat!" Hunter dropped the hat onto the road, and just as he had hoped, the gunshots stopped.

"What if they stop following us?" Taunter asked Hunter, the two of them still running.

"They'll follow us, don't worry," Hunter assured her.

"Well, shoot, he just dropped it," Ellis stopped, picking his hat up from off the ground. "I wonder if I got his hand."

"Ellis, next time…don't do that over your hat," Nick told him.

"What? It's my hat. Not his."

"You'll attract the horde if you go shouting like that again," Coach warned him.

"Well, I don't hear the horde now," Ellis grinned. His grin disappeared when a loud chorus of growls was heard back in the alley they had just come from. "Oh, shit."

Taunter and Hunter finally arrived back at the trap, and stopped once they got onto the road.

"I don't think they followed us," Hunter said in surprise, hearing gunshots from the distance.

"Well…we tried, right?" Taunter shrugged. Up on the hilltop, Calli had been keeping a sharp look-out, and now, she could see two dark figures down inside the entrance to the tunnel.

"They got two of them," she whispered to the rest of the group. "Let the tires go!" Smoker nodded, and he, Sam, and Michael each cut one of the ropes holding the net in place. The net flopped down, most of the rope's end still lying on the street. It had been a very long rope, after all, and still was draped over the telephone wire. Still, it was working perfectly. The tires were released, and starting rolling and bouncing down the road.

"Huh? What's that?" Hunter said, he and Taunter looked up the street. "Holy crap! Dammit guys, it's us!"

"Too late, run!" Taunter shouted, turning and heading down the tunnel as the tires began closing in. Hunter followed, not wanting to be run over.

"It's working!" Calli grinned.

"Let's go cut them off," Tank said, stepping up from the brush. But as he stood, he happened to step onto the net on the ground. He slipped, and the net was pulled further down the road, the rope also being pulled.

"Hey, are you-" Smoker started saying before he realized something: His foot was right in the middle of one very loose and open knots they had made (just in case they needed it) and the rope was being pulled up. Before he could move, the rope grabbed him around the ankle, pulling him up and suspending him upside down from the telephone wire. "What the-"

"Smoker? Are you okay?" Sam called.

"Someone get me down! Tank, get off the net!" Smoker shouted. Tank started to move, but then Smoker started dropping back down to the ground once Tank took his weight off of the net. And from such a height, that would hurt. "Get on the net! Get on the net!"

"Make up your mind!" Tank said, annoyed, stepping back on.

"Ugh, all the blood is going to my head!" Smoker said, trying to figure out a way down.

"Hey, what about them?" Jeffry asked, pointing at the two figures running down the tunnel. Hunter and Taunter had managed to keep ahead of the tires, but they were gaining.

"At least this is a good aerobic workout!" Taunter said, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Yeah, cause being squished by tires is so fun!" Hunter said, glancing back to see the tires directly behind them.

"Alright, now ease off a bit…" Smoker was trying to direct Tank. "No, no, too much! Too much, get back on!" Smoker cringed, his head having almost smashed right into the ground. "There is a balance you need to achieve here!"

"Well, sorry!" Tank said, tugging on the rope a bit, making Smoker swing back and forth.

"Don't make me throw up, Tank! Someone get me down!"

"Look, the tires got them," Valery said, pointing out the scene near the end of the tunnel, where the two figures running down the road had been overtaken and run over by the tires. "Should we go get them?"

"Yeah, get them while they're down!" Smoker called, still swinging and bouncing up and down from the rope moving, almost as if he were a yo-yo. Boomer, Valery, Mike, Sam, and Jeffry went off to the other side of the tunnel, Mike reaching it first.

"We've got you now-" he started saying, but stopped. "Uh…guys? What are you doing under the tires?"

"Well, we sorta got run over!" Hunter said, sticking his head out from the middle of one of the tires. "I mean, nothing big, just _huge bruises_. Everywhere."

"I'm okay! I'm okay!" Taunter stuck her hand up from under the tire pile-up, a bit dazed it seemed.

"Hey, you guys aren't the survivors," Boomer said as the rest of the group arrived.

"Thanks for the prompt observation, Boomer," Hunter tried to get out from under the pile. "It would have been nice if you could have seen that _before_ you ran us over, though." Smoker could still be heard shouting from up the road to Tank,

"Higher! No, no, lower! Not that low! Are you _trying_ to kill me?"

"You know what? Forget it," Tank let go of the rope, and Smoker fell a yard or two down to the ground.

"Ow! That was my baaaack," Smoker groaned, rolling over.

"Sooo…" Ellis said, he and the other three survivors watching the group of Infected from one of the far off alleys, "Is this what those things do in their free time?"

"Just keep walking Ellis," Nick said, pushing him along down the path. "Don't make eye contact, and just keep walking."

…...

Lol just wondering, have any of you ever seen the movie "Rat Race"? It is the funniest thing on Earth, I swear. XD I just watched it last night. XD If you haven't seen it, watch it. :P Anyway, time for this chapter's question! :3

If handed a book with weird survivor squiggle letters inside it, what would your Infected do with it? :D


	13. Scary Stories From Hell

Well, I was originally going to use this for a Halloween chapter, but it looks like the story will be done before October, so here it is now. XD And this one has another South Park reference! Wow, I enjoy using those, don't I? :3 Anyone who spots it gets a cookie. XD Anyway, enjoy! :3

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. CozBlueX owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

Special Disclaimer: I don't own the Campfire Song Song. XD (and no, that's not what the South Park reference is, seeing as the Campfire Song Song is from Spongebob. :P )

…...

It was dark out, but no one in the alley seemed to be sleepy. They had all gathered towards the center of the alley, with an old flashlight they had found pointing upwards, lighting up the alley. Even though none of them knew how much battery was left, they had decided to use it anyway.

"Sooo…what do we do now?" Sam was the one who posed the question.

"Sing campfire songs?" Calli suggested.

"No," Hunter flat out refused. "I'm not singing."

"Aw, Hunter doesn't like singing," Calli grinned widely. "Come on, let's sing! Let's sit around the campfire and sing our campfire song, our C-A-M-P-F-"

"NO," Hunter said, this time glaring straight into her eyes. "If you have to sing, sing anything but THAT."

"C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-S-O-N-G SONG!" Calli continued, glad that she could annoy Hunter.

"Stop it!" Hunter covered his ears. "God, my ears are bleeding!"

"I don't see any blood," Jeffry said, a bit confused.

"Uh, let's just not sing for now," Smoker said, trying to keep any fights from starting. "We don't want to attract any of those annoying Commons, right?"

"I guess you're right," Calli shrugged. "I just find it funny that Hunter can't stand campfire songs."

"Well, what other stuff do you do around campfires?" Taunter asked.

"Well…there's s'mores, right?" Boomer pondered aloud, trying to think of what to do. "But we can't really do those with a flashlight."

"Oh, I know, I know," Calli said suddenly. "I have the perfect idea!" She picked up the flashlight, shining it over her face, trying to make it look creepy in the light. "We can tell scary stories!"

"Scary stories, huh?" Smoker said as Calli returned the flashlight to its place. "Do you know any good ones?"

"Yeah, I know a bunch!" Calli nodded excitedly. "I know a lot of good ones." She giggled to herself quietly. "Man, you guys are gonna be so scared that you'll pee yourselves!"

"Yeah…right," Hunter said dully. "Just try to scare me."

"How about we go around the fire and each tell one?" Boomer asked.

"Sounds good to me," Mike nodded. Everyone except Taunter said something of approval of the plan. Taunter in fact looked a bit uncomfortable, though she didn't say anything.

"Alright, I want to go first," Calli said before anyone else could say anything. "I came up with the idea, so I get the first story!" She paused, trying to get some kind of dramatic effect. "It all happened in a city a lot like this one. It was in the middle of the night, and a lonely Infected was walking the streets, grumbling about something. But that's just the usual with him, seeing as he's always getting mad about something. The hoodie clad Infected continued on his grumbling stroll unaware of the misfortune he was about to meet…"

"Oh, perfect," Hunter rolled his eyes.

"Sh, don't interrupt," Boomer told him.

"He was walking down the street, all alone of course," Calli went on. "Suddenly, off in an alley, he heard a small noise. Of course, he decided to check it out. Even though he knew that anyone who is walking around alone, hears a weird noise, then goes to check it out gets eaten by monsters, he still went to check. But when he entered the alley, he was terrified at what he saw: Jockeys! Jockeys everywhere, all being weird like they always were. He hated Jockeys. And now they were all over the place, and they were all looking right at him. 'Oh no!' he shouted. 'I hope that they don't hump me in the face or something!' He tried to make a break for it, but when he was running down the road, the Jockeys caught up with him. And that was the last that was heard of the poor little Infected. I assume he died. The end!"

"Well, gee, thanks," Hunter said.

"Hunter, you never told me that happened," Boomer looked over at him.

"That's because it didn't happen!"

"That was scary!" Taunter said, pulling a discarded blanket around her, pulling it up over her head so only her face was showing.

"Guys, I think that you're scaring Taunter," Smoker said indicating over to Taunter, who was cowering under her blanket.

"Should we stop?" Calli asked.

"No, I don't wanna ruin your fun," Taunter replied quickly. "I'll be fine, you guys just keep going."

"Okay then, I'm next," Hunter interjected before anyone else could make a move to go. "And I've got a better story than Calli's stupid story."

"Alright then, let's hear it," Calli said, making it sound like she was challenging him to some sort of story duel. Hunter paused, seeming to be making up details for the story in his head.

"It is sometimes said," he began, "that there is a different kind of Special Infected. It wanders around from city to city, attacking not only survivors, but even other Infected. But it only attacks other Infected when it decides that they deserve it. One day, it came to a new town. It was looking around when it saw a particular Smoker Infected who just wouldn't leave a Hunter alone. She just annoyed him and annoyed him, all day long. She was definitely deserving of being attacked, wouldn't you agree?" Hunter paused, waiting for any sort of reply, but nobody answered, so he went on. "Anyway, one night, she disappeared, and was never seen or heard from again. And the Hunter lived in peace for the rest of his life. The end."

"Uh-oh, I've done a lot of annoying stuff!" Taunter said quickly, trying to hold in nervous laughter. "That guy is going to come and get me, next!"

"Hey, it's just a story," Hunter told her. "Besides, the bad guy only goes for Smoker Infected who annoy Hunter Infected."

"Right, ha ha," Calli said, rolling her eyes. "Well, I've got another story-"

"Hang on, it can't be your turn again," Sam told her.

"Yeah, we've got stories, too," Claire agreed.

"I'll go next," Mike said. "Let's see, I know a few good ones…oh, here's a pretty good one. This is one of those survivor stories. Once upon a time-"

"You can't start a _scary_ story with 'once upon a time'," Clawer objected before he could get any farther.

"Fine, fine," Mike said, wanting to continue. "There was once a time when there was a girl who wanted to marry a rich guy, but he didn't want to marry her. She kept on trying to prove her love to him, but he still wouldn't marry her. She got so sad that she went and drowned herself, and her spirit was forced to walk by the harbor forever. Her ghost appears there a lot. And anyone who sees the ghost was said to die. One day, two guys were driving home by the harbor in their car, when they heard someone crying. When they looked, they saw the woman's ghost walking around the harbor. The driver floored it, and the two guys went to their apartments. They had a few drinks in the one guy's apartment, and decided that they had just imagined the whole thing, and that the rumors about the woman weren't true. And the next morning, when they woke up, they were fine."

"Phew," Taunter sighed in relief.

"Well, that was stupid," Hunter said.

"Hang on, I'm not done," Mike said, seeming to be getting annoyed at the interruptions. "The next night, when the two guys were driving home from a party, they passed that same spot, and right as they got near it, their car spun out of control. It crashed in the exact spot where they had seen the girl, and both of the guys were killed instantly." Mike stopped, and it seemed that his story was over.

"…There isn't a harbor in this town, right?" Taunter asked after a moment. "If there is, I'm never going there. Ever."

"Are you sure that this isn't freaking you out?" Smoker asked her.

"Yeah. It's freaking me out," Taunter replied. "But if you guys are having fun, then it's fine."

"Okay, whatever you say."

"Oh, hey, I have a story," Sam said, coming more into the circle. "Well, not much of a story, but it's more of a tradition thing. Apparently, there was this girl called Mary who was murdered. And now, whenever you look into a mirror, if you say 'Bloody Mary' three times, you'll hear a girl crying, then she'll come out and murder you, too."

"I thought that that was with Biggie Smalls," Calli cut in.

"Not the way I heard it," Sam shrugged. "So anyway, if you say her name three times in a mirror, she comes out and kills you. Pretty creepy, huh?"

"Psh, it can't be true," Hunter shook his head. "It's not like she's really gonna come out of some mirror and kill you, right?" There was a long pause. "…right?"

"There's…a mirror in the safe room," Jeffry mumbled after a moment.

"Well, fine, if you all think it's true, let's go prove it," Hunter said, getting up from his seat and heading into the safe room. Everyone, their curiosity taking over them, followed him inside, huddling into the small room in a clump. Just as Jeffry had said, there was a medium sized mirror inside one of the cardboard boxes. Hunter took it out, leaning it against one of the walls. Valery had brought the flashlight inside, and it cast an eerie light about the room. There was a pause.

"Well? Are you going to do it?" Sam asked.

"He's too scared," Calli snickered.

"I am not scared!" Hunter said defensively. "I was just waiting to see if you guys were ready!" Another long pause.

"Well, we're ready," Smoker said. "Go ahead."

"You seem awfully eager for me to do it, Smoker," Hunter said, agitated. "Why don't you do it?"

"Me?" Smoker asked, surprised. "Hey, I'm not doing it. If it's true, I don't want some girl jumping out of a mirror and killing me!"

"Yeah, Hunter, it was your idea," Mike nodded. "You have to do it."

"Are you scared?" Boomer asked.

"I know that I'm scared!" Taunter announced, huddling in between Claire and Calli, still with the blanket on her.

"Well, I'm not scared," Hunter said to everyone. "I'll say it to the mirror, and prove to all of you that it's fake." Hunter faced the mirror, but still hesitated.

"Well? Go ahead," Claire told him.

"Yeah, we don't have all night," Clawer agreed.

"I'm just getting ready!" Hunter said, seeming to be stalling. "Alright, I'm going to go now…"

"He's scared," Calli shrugged.

"For the last time, I'm not scared!" Hunter shouted at her. "Alright, I'm starting now!" He paused for a second, staring at his own reflection in the mirror.

"Well?" Smoker said after a moment. "Go already."

"I'm going!" Hunter replied, then looked at the mirror again. "Well, here goes…three times. First. Bloody Mary." When nothing spooky happened, Hunter was starting to feel a bit more confident. "Bloody Mary." But once he had said the second one, he found that he was having trouble saying the name a third time. What if Sam's story really was true? What if some random girl DID come out of the mirror and kill him? Then again, was this girl a survivor? Or some kind of ghost or something?

"Come on, one more time," Valery urged him along.

"I'm getting to it!" Hunter said to her. He glared at the mirror, willing himself to say the name a third time. "B…Bloody-" Suddenly, the group could hear something. They could hear a girl crying.

"Do…you hear that?" Jeffry asked quietly.

"Yeah, I hear it," Smoker nodded. There was a long pause in which the sobbing grew closer, then Taunter yelled out in terror, running out of the room, nearly in hysterics with frantic laughter.

"Hunter, I'm going to kill you!" came a shout, seeming to be from nowhere, just as the crying had been. Hunter froze up for a second, then was out of the room and on top of the roof in a flash.

"Hey, hang on," Smoker said, exiting the room and looking up at where Hunter had disappeared.

"I'm not coming down!" Hunter shouted. "She's going to freaking kill me!"

"Hunter! There you are!" came a shout in the same female voice, still sobbing. "I'm going to kill you, I swear!"

"No, no, go for Smoker instead, he's a slow runner!" Hunter shouted, jumping off to another rooftop. "I mean it, killing me would be no fun at all! Smoker's a lot more fun to kill, I swear!"

"Hey, why me?" Smoker shouted, somewhat freaked out. The crying was coming closer, and everyone else came out of the safe room. Taunter was nowhere to be seen in the alley, apparently having run off somewhere.

"Alright, Mary, back off!" Smoker called down the alleyway that the sobbing was coming from. "We're not the ones that called you here!"

"Mary?" came a question. "Who are you talking about?" All of them were surprised when Witch walked in out of the darkness. "Do you guys know where Hunter is? He took some of my food. So, I'm going to kill him. Seriously. That was my food."

"He ran off that way," Sam pointed to the rooftop where Hunter had jumped.

"Thanks," Witch said, turning around and going in that direction. "Hunter! Just you wait, when I catch you, you're dead!"

"Leave me alone!" Hunter could be heard shouting from a roof somewhere. "It was Sam's idea, not mine!"

"It was not!" Sam called, hoping that Hunter could hear him as the rest of the group went back into the main alley.

Later that evening, Taunter returned, carrying with her cups of the brown liquid that had made them all go so crazy the other day. She seemed a bit jittery, too.

"What's all that for?" Boomer asked as he got ready to go to sleep.

"Well, I'm probably going to end up getting nightmares tonight," Taunter replied. "And every night from here on out. So, I've decided on one simple thing: I won't sleep. Ever again."

"I don't think that that'll work out…" Boomer told her.

"What? There's plenty of this stuff. It'll keep me awake. Yeah, it'll keep me awake forever, then I won't have to worry about nightmares…"

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, fine, fine…fine…yeah…" Taunter said in between sips of coffee. Hunter returned later, his hoodie looking a bit ripped up.

"Did 'Mary' get you?" Calli laughed.

"Oh, she got me alright," Hunter grumbled, going over to where he usually slept.

"She kicked the crap out of you, huh?"

"No. I…I was just going easy on her."

"Riiiight. Sure you were. And if that's true, then I'm the queen of France."

"Fine. You're the queen of France. Go be French-y and stuff."

"Well, fine. Maybe I will."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Just shut up and go to bed."

"…fine."

…...

Lol Taunter's fear of scary stories is totally true to me. XD Somehow I can play a video game with zombies and such, and yet I get scared at every scary story someone tells me. XD Oh well. :P Lol I just noticed that this chapter, the scary story chapter, is chapter number thirteen. XD What a coincidence, lol. I didn't even mean to do that. XD Anyway, time for the question of the chapter! :D

If challenged to a fight by another Infected, what would your Infected do?


	14. Cry Me A River

Sorry that this chapter took so long, I got sick for a while! D: But I'm better now! :D I've seen that some of you have been suggesting ideas for chapters in the comments, too. :D I might use them, but I want to use up all of my own ideas, first. ^^ Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. CozBlueX owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

…...

There was a time when each and every one of the Infected living in the alley had to wonder one thing: When was Witch ever going to stop crying?

"I can hear her sobbing all the way from over here," Mike commented, peering down the alley that eventually joined the one that Witch had taken up residence in. And she was indeed crying, now louder than ever. It was a bit difficult for anyone to ignore her, with her crying echoing through the tight space in her alley and into theirs.

"She'll stop…eventually," Hunter said, chewing on a piece of meat that they had gotten from the store earlier. "Just ignore her for now."

"Don't you care that she's crying?" Calli asked him, seeming disapproving.

"Well, she's always crying. All the time. It's like breathing for her," Smoker shrugged. "There's never been any way for us to get her to stop. She's just always crying."

"Have you ever even asked her why she's crying?" Calli questioned.

"Nope. Well, yeah, actually, but when we did, she nearly killed us," Boomer recollected. "She gets really angry when you mention her past, so we don't really know much of it."

"Still, you should at least ask her what you could do to make her feel better."

"I think they're right, Calli," Taunter spoke up. "I mean, Witch's crying is like my laughing. It's like a reflex, I guess."

"I bet that we could have her stop crying, though," Calli replied, stopping her painting for a moment as she tried to think of a solution. "You're not laughing all the time, so she must not cry all the time. There has to be something that would make her feel better."

"Well that ice cream thing failed, so what else can we do?" Hunter asked. "I still don't think that we can get her to stop."

"Well, we have to try," Calli put her paint cans back into their usual spot, and sat on her mattress, thinking. "Is there anything that we know she likes?"

"Well, we know that she hates strawberry."

"That's not helpful."

"Just stating facts."

"Maybe one of us should ask her what she likes, then," Sam suggested. "She has to like _something_."

"But would she tell us?" Claire, having overheard the conversation from where she had been up on the wall, came down to join the rest of them. "She seems more like the type who wouldn't."

"Who's going to go ask her, anyway?" Valery asked.

"Yeah, some of us don't really like Witches," Sam added. "Namely, me."

"Well, I would go, but I think that she's pissed off at my laughing," Taunter gave a half hearted smile. "I mean, she thinks that I was laughing at her."

"I'll go," Smoker said after a short silence. "I won't take too long, alright?" He stood up from his leaning position against the wall, and then headed down the alley towards where Witch was crying.

"Witch?" he called, giving her a warning before he approached. He definitely didn't want her mistaking him for a survivor.

"What?" came her response.

"You okay over there?"

"Oh, so NOW you care that I'm crying?"

"Uhh…yeah. Can I help?"

"No."

"Oh. Uh…okay." Smoker paused for a moment, trying to think of what to say next. "Is…there anything that would make you feel better?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Yeah. _Oh_."

"…oh. Okay." Smoker, feeling awkward, quickly retreated back to the alley where everyone was waiting for him.

"Well? What'd she say?" Calli asked him when he returned. "Did you figure out what would make her feel better?"

"She says that nothing would make her feel any better," Smoker replied. "I really don't think that there's any way we can help."

"But there has to be a way!" Calli got to thinking again. "Hey, guys. What kind of stuff makes you feel better when you're sad?" There was a general silence in which everyone was thinking.

"Well…I would say killing survivors, but she can't really do that if the survivors aren't around," Hunter shrugged. "And ever since you ran me and Taunter over with those tires, I don't really want to try catching them in a trap again."

"Sorry, I didn't know it was you," Calli said, smiling apologetically.

"Yeah. Get glasses or something."

"Well, I know something that might make her feel better!" Smoker said quickly before an argument could start. Everyone turned and looked at him, waiting for his suggestion. "Has…Witch ever tried smoking?"

"Worth a try," Mike shrugged.

"Who's coming with me?" Smoker asked, about to go back into the alley.

"I'll come," Calli said immediately, standing up. "It was my idea in the first place, after all."

"Alright then, let's go," Smoker started off down the alleyway, Calli following behind. Soon, they came to where Witch was again.

"What is it?" she called, having heard them approach.

"We've got something that you might like," Calli said as they rounded the corner.

"What?" Witch looked at them inquisitively, still sniffling. Smoker took a cigarette out of his pack, then lit it with his lighter, holding it out to her.

"Try this," he said. "It might make you feel better."

"You mean eat that thing?" Witch looked at him with disbelief.

"No, just stick it in your mouth," Smoker instructed. Witch was having trouble holding the cigarette with her long claws, so Calli took the cigarette and simply stuck it into her mouth.

"There." Calli said, sure that their plan would work. Both she and Smoker watched as Witch paused. But almost immediately, she spit the cigarette out, coughing up smoke.

"That was terrible!" Witch exclaimed, looking up at them with tears in her eyes. "Are you trying to kill me or something?"

"Uhh…no?" Smoker shook his head, worried that Witch would get angry at them.

"Just go away," Witch told them, turning away.

"Okay then," Smoker turned around and started walking back immediately, but Calli paused.

"Uh…are you sure…?" Calli asked tentatively.

"Yes," Witch told her bluntly without turning around. Calli hesitated, but then walked back to the alley.

"Alright, we need something else," she said as she arrived. "Anyone else know about something that could make her feel better?" Everyone was thinking once again.

"Does she like running?" Mike asked.

"She's not really one to move much," Boomer replied. "She never runs, only walks." Mike looked shocked at that statement.

"I don't see how anyone could live a life like that," he said, his surprise showing in his voice. "Who could survive without running?"

"She could, I guess," Clawer shrugged, though only half involved in the conversation. It seemed like he was focused on something else. Jeffry looked like he wanted to say something, and Calli turned to him.

"Do you know something that might make her feel better?" Calli asked him.

"Well, this, maybe," he held up one of his shiny collectables. "Does she like stuff like this?"

"Would you really give that to her?"

"Well…maybe let her see it…for a second," Jeffry was in conflict. He really wanted to hold onto that thing.

"Well, let's go try it," Calli said, and she and Jeffry made their way off into the alley.

"Witch, we're back again," Calli called as they approached.

"What is it this time?" Witch asked as they turned the corner.

"We thought that you might like this," Calli said, then turned to look at Jeffry. Jeffry paused, then held out the small shiny marble to Witch.

"You can see it for a second, but then you have to give it back," he mumbled.

"What…is it?" Witch asked.

"It's a marble," Jeffry replied.

"So?"

"So, it's shiny."

"…So?"

"Shiny things are good," Jeffry looked at Witch as if she had no idea what she was talking about. "If you don't like it, then I'll just take it back…"

"Okay," Witch said simply, not seeming very interested in Jeffry's possession. Jeffry gave her a surprised look. If he had been in that position, he probably would have taken the marble. Still, you could never know when it came to people who sat in alleys and cried all day long.

"Okay then," he smiled, a bit happy that he could keep his marble. He went back off into the other alley, apparently not very worried about Witch anymore for some reason. He was probably just worried about his marble.

"Hehe. Cute kid, huh?" Calli smiled.

"Uh-huh," Witch said unenthusiastically before she went back to crying. Calli sighed, then went back to the alleyway.

"Nothing's working," she grumbled. "I have to make her feel better, or I'll feel guilty about it!"

"Why should you feel guilty? It's not because of you that she's crying," Valery said.

"Well, yeah, but she's crying all the same."

"If a survivor was crying, would you just go up to them and try to make them feel better?" Hunter asked without looking over at her.

"Hey, I have an idea," Taunter said suddenly. "I'll be right back." And with that, she was gone, out of the alley and onto the street, heading off to who knows where.

"Maybe Witch just needs some therapy or something," Boomer suggested.

"Where are we going to find a shrink?" Smoker asked.

"Well, anyone could be a shrink."

"She's not going to tell anyone her problems anyway," Hunter shrugged.

"Exactly how long has Witch been crying for, anyway?" Claire asked.

"Uh…as long as we've known her," Hunter thought for a moment.

"Around a year and five months, I would guess," Smoker estimated.

"And she cries non-stop?" Sam inquired.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Wow. That's a talent. Crying for over a year non-stop."

"In that case, she's talented. Very talented."

It was later in the day when Taunter came back into the alley, seeming proud of herself.

"What'd you go get?" Hunter asked, seeing that she wasn't carrying anything.

"Oh, I went and got some of that brown stuff we were drinking," Taunter grinned. "I gave some to Witch."

"You gave coffee to Witch?" Boomer asked, now seeming worried.

"Uh…yeah, why?" Taunter asked, chuckling nervously. Suddenly, they all could hear extremely loud sobbing from the other alley, louder than it ever had been before, mixed with shouted obscenities that they could hardly understand.

"…We'd better get in the safe room," Smoker said after a pause. Witch's shouts could be heard from the alley, but the only thing that was coherent was a shout of,

"Hunter, you're a total asshole!"

"I am not!" Hunter shouted back before entering the room.

"Well, you did take her food," Smoker reminded him.

"What? I was hungry."

"She's right about you being an asshole, though," Calli laughed.

"Do I need to tear your tongue out?"

"Only if you can catch me!"

"No fighting in the safe room!" Smoker shouted as Clawer, the last one to come inside, closed the door behind himself. "Do I have to get Tank in here?"

"He can't fit, remember?" Taunter reminded him.

"Oh. Right," Smoker remembered. "…Dammit."

Elsewhere in the city, the four survivors were carefully making their way along, Ellis rambling on about Keith again.

"Ellis, not now," Nick told him, slightly annoyed.

"Fine, fine," Ellis finally stopped telling his story, then paused. "I'll go scout ahead."

"Hang on, don't go by yourself."

"Come on, I'll be fine." Ellis didn't listen to Nick's protestations, and went ahead by himself to have a look around, not paying attention to whether anyone was coming with him or not.

"I don't see why they always interrupt my stories," he said to himself, walking backwards a bit while he took a look at a building. But he bumped into someone. Whoever it was, they were too light to be Coach, and Nick would have said something about his suit getting messed up.

"Sorry, Ro," Ellis said, turning around to look at her. But that was most definitely not Rochelle.

Nick wasn't surprised when he saw Ellis running back towards them. He must have gotten freaked out or something. But Nick was a bit confused when Ellis ran right past them and down the road.

"Where are you going?" Rochelle called after him.

"No time to talk!" Ellis shouted back to them without stopping. "Witch! Witch! I pissed her off!"

"Huh?" Nick turned around to look at where Ellis had come from, only to see a Witch running at them at top speed. "Oh, shit! God dammit, Ellis!" The other three survivors took off after Ellis, the Witch who was after them seeming a bit more energized than any others they had seen for some reason.

"You guys are assholes, too!" Witch screamed as she ran after them. "You're just like Hunter! I'll kill you guys, too!"

"Ellis, why do you always startle the Witch?" Nick grumbled when he caught up to the mechanic.

"Hey, it's not my fault that they're all PMS-ing or something!" Ellis said quickly, trying to come up with a valid excuse for his constant Witch startling.

"Great, Ellis. Just great…"

…...

Lol poor, poor Witch… XD There must be something to get her to stop crying… :P Anyway, time for this chapter's question! :D

This time, it's a bit of a situation thingie. :3 Okay, here's the thing: Your Infected is wandering through the alleys one day, by themselves, when suddenly, they hear Ellis rambling about Keith and about how Keith drowned in the tunnel of love because his girlfriend didn't want to get wet! Omg! That means that the survivors are nearby! But, your Infected has to make a quick decision first. Should they go back and tell everyone in the alley? If they go back and tell, not only will the survivors have a chance to get away, but you'll have to share the results with everyone else. But if they do it alone, there's a chance that they might be killed because they are outnumbered. Or, they can decide just to leave the survivors alone and not do anything. WHAT DO THEY DO? *dramatic music*

This is just to give me more of an idea of their individual personalities and thought processes :D Lol I know that that might sound a bit over the top, but the better I know your characters, the better that they are portrayed! So, answer away! ^^


	15. Love Is In The Air

XD It took me so long to think of an idea for this one! But, since we're almost to the end, I decided that I should probably start including more of the romantic stuff. X3 Lol, pairings galore in this chapter, everyone. Also, I've started to use paragraph dividers! I happened to pick up a technique for it by looking at one of Sorrowsnow's stories. :3 And Snow, I hope you don't mind me using it. XD I still don't know how to use the fancy gray line thingie, but I've decided to use two different style dividers, one for the start and end of each chapter, and one to divide up the paragraphs since the indents for paragraphs get destroyed. ^^ Now you guys will actually be able to see time jumps or locale switches! WOOHOO! :D Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter! :3 Also, seeming as I'm making a habit out of writing these chapters at one in the morning, please excuse any grammar mistakes! XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. CozBlueX owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It had been a fairly boring day so far. Hot, as usual. Even Sam, who had his chest exposed all the time, was having trouble with the heat. As a result of the hot weather, all of the guys had gone inside the safe room while the girls were occupied with assisting Calli with her painting. Calli had wanted to do a group painting, and had asked Taunter, Valery, and Claire to join in. The guys, uninvolved in the painting and wanting to get into the shade, had been very eager to get inside.

"We're almost done!" Calli smiled up at their work.

"Looks like it's coming out pretty well," Taunter grinned. "Man, I never really thought that I could draw before."

"Well, anyone can draw if they try hard enough and practice and such. Hey, Valery, Claire, how are your parts coming along?"

"Pretty good," Valery replied.

"Yeah, I'm kinda proud of mine," Claire agreed. "I mean, since it's spray paint, I can't really use my perfectionism on this, huh?"

"Perfectionism?" Taunter asked, curious. "I never thought that you were a perfectionist."

"Do you pay attention at all?" Claire couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, let's take a break for now," Calli smiled, putting down the paint cans that she was holding and stretching a bit. "Hey, wanna head over to the pool?"

"Yeah, sounds fun!" Taunter nodded happily. She turned to look at Valery and Claire. "Do you guys want to come?"

"Sure, I like the pool," Valery gave a small smile.

"Yeah, I'll come too," Claire agreed. "Let's go."

…...

"Looks like they're going to the pool," Smoker said, having overheard the girls as they left.

"Should we go, too?" Jeffry asked.

"No, I think that they're having a 'girl's day out' or something like that," Boomer replied.

"Oh, okay."

"So what are we supposed to do, then?" Mike said after a short pause. "I'm bored."

"Why don't you go run around or something?" Hunter asked him, and Mike shrugged.

"It's too hot to run around anyway," Sam remarked, sprawled on top of one of the shelves at the back of the room. "Maybe we _should_ go to the pool."

"No, we should probably stay here," Smoker said, taking a drag on his cigarette. "Give the girls some peace for once."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hunter asked.

"Well, we all, and you in particular, Hunter, tend to cause trouble for them. It's good that we're taking a break."

"I don't cause trouble for _all _of them."

"I bet I know who he doesn't cause trouble for," Sam gave a small laugh.

"Are you implying something here?"

"No. Just saying."

"Riiight."

…...

"Well, here we are," Calli said as the girls arrived at the pool. "It's so hot out! The pool is going to be a great way to cool down for a bit."

"It's too bad that we couldn't bring Hunter and the rest of those guys, though," Taunter frowned a bit. "I mean, they had fun the last time."

"Well, technically, we _could_ have brought them…"

"You always mention Hunter first," Claire said out of the blue, smirking at Taunter.

"Uhh…so?" Taunter asked. "So what?"

"Could there possibly be a little crush here in the works?"

"A crush? What are you talking about?" Taunter said in surprise, blushing.

"I'm think I'm right," Claire laughed, going ahead of the others, towards the pool.

"Actually, I think that she's right, too," Calli agreed with a little giggle as the three other girls reached the pool.

"What? And I'm the _only _one suspected of having a crush?" Taunter raised an eyebrow at Calli. "I have my suspicions, too. You seem to have something going on, Calli…" Taunter grinned, and Calli looked away in embarrassment, then looked back at Taunter.

"Well…I'm getting in the pool," she said quickly, jumping in before anyone could say anything else.

…...

"Seriously. I think that you were implying something there, Sam," Hunter insisted.

"I wasn't _implying_…" Sam laughed a bit. "Just…guessing. Yeah, that's it."

"Smoker, you think that he was saying something, right?" Hunter turned to Smoker, who paused, thinking for a moment.

"I actually think he's right," Smoker gave his trademark smirk.

"Not you, too!" Hunter frowned in annoyance. "How many times do I have to say this?"

"As many times as you think you can lie," Smoker replied, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, Hunter, it's pretty obvious that you like her," Boomer added.

"Like who?" Jeffry asked, not quite getting what they were talking about.

"Hunter likes Taunter a whole lot," Sam said, smirking at Hunter as he spoke to Jeffry.

"I do not!" Hunter objected.

"How come you don't like her?" Jeffry asked in surprise. "She's really nice."

"Well, I like her, I just don't like like her. That's it."

"Like like?"

"Yeah. Don't you know what that…?"

"Nope."

"It means that they're in loooove," Mike said to Jeffry before Hunter could say anything.

"Ohhh, I get it," Jeffry nodded.

"We are not!" Hunter protested once again. "And can't you guys bother someone besides me for once?"

"Uh…nope," Sam said, having paused to make it seem like he was thinking about it. "I don't think so."

…...

"Come on, Calli, we can all tell that you're hiding something," Taunter grinned, trying to make Calli talk.

"I'm not hiding anything," Calli replied.

"But you were blushing back there when I said that you had a crush on someone. Come on, we're all girls here. You can trust us, right?" Both Claire and Valery agreed, nodding and reassuring her.

"Well, would you guys talk about it for yourselves if I told you about it for me?" Calli asked. There was a short pause, and eventually, everyone agreed.

"Okay, let's so sit over there," Claire said, indicating the as of now un-powered Jacuzzi. After they were all situated in the large circle of water, there was a bit of a moment of pause.

"Well? Do you like someone?" Taunter asked Calli bluntly.

"Hrm…" Calli paused for a second. "Well, maybe, just a little."

"I knew it!" Taunter couldn't help but let out a bit of a fast laugh. "Who is it? Who, who?"

"Hang on, you have to admit that you like someone, too, first!" Calli told her.

"Who, me?" Taunter said slowly. "Uh…"

"Come on, I said it, now you have to."

"But what if I don't?"

'But I know you do."

"So?"

"So, tell!"

"Fine, fine, I _might_ like a certain someone as a bit more than a friend."

"You don't have to say 'certain someone', we all know who it is," Claire grinned.

"No, you don't…" Taunter shook her head, even though she knew perfectly well that Claire was right.

"It's Hunter," Calli, Claire, and Valery all said in almost perfect unison.

"…maybe."

"That's a 'yes'!" Calli laughed, splashing the water a little bit.

…...

"We'll need to find them a romantic retreat…" Sam was still caught up in his own comedy, laughing to himself. Hunter had turned around, and was now sitting facing the wall.

"Geez, Hunter, don't take it so hard," Smoker chuckled a bit. "Your 'big secret' is out now, but it's not like we're going to tell any of the girls."

"Yeah. What's said in the safe room stays in the safe room," Boomer agreed.

"And it's not like we're going to annoy you about it…at least, not more than usual."

"Well, what about _you_, Smoker?" Hunter turned a bit to look at the smoking Infected across the room. "I know that _you _like someone! You were sleep talking the other night when I got up to go to the bathroom!"

"I was?" Smoker asked in surprise. "No, no, I don't sleep talk."

"Uh, yeah. You sorta do."

"Well, either way, I don't like anyone right now."

"Oh yes you do," Hunter grinned a bit, happy to not be the subject of the bothering anymore. "Maybe I should just _tell_ everyone right now and get it over with."

"Smoker like likes someone, too?" Jeffry asked, looking away from the bottle that he had been peeling the label off of.

"Yup," Hunter nodded.

"Well, whatever," Smoker blew him off. "It's not like anybody here has never liked anyone like that before. In fact, I bet that more than half the people in here right now like somebody."

"Not me," Mike laughed. "And I can say that with confidence."

"Come on, any takers? Anyone?" Smoker said, looking around the room. He didn't get any response, but didn't believe it. "Come on, I know that at least someone in here-"

"Well, there _is_ this one girl that's sort of obsessed with me," Clawer spoke up suddenly. "She's not around though. I haven't seen her in a while."

"See? Clawer has more of a backbone than any of you guys," Smoker said, pointing over to the corner where Clawer was situated.

"Well, I guess that you have no backbone either, then," Hunter shrugged. "You wouldn't admit it, either."

"The way you said that implies that you _do_ like Taunter," Sam smirked.

"No, it didn't!"

…...

"Well, fine. Yeah. I have a crush on Hunter. Is it really that big a deal?" Taunter asked, finally admitting to it.

"What happens if he takes off his hood and you don't like what he looks like?" Valery asked.

"Well, I've seen his face. He has a very nice face."

"You saw it when we tried to see it that one day?" Calli looked at Taunter in surprise. "What did he look like?"

"I promised him that I wouldn't tell anyone," Taunter replied.

"Aw, come on!"

"Well, never mind that," Taunter said, wanting to change the subject. "You still haven't told us who _you_ like, Calli. I told you, now you have to tell."

"Fine, fine…" Calli paused for a moment. "But we all have to promise to keep this all a secret, right?"

"Right, of course."

"Well…hrm…I guess that I sorta kinda maybe-"

"Just get on with it," Claire laughed a little bit.

"Okay, okay," Calli continued. "I guess that I might like Smoker. I mean, he's a really cool guy, after all!"

"Well, that's cool," Taunter smiled. She glanced outside through the glass wall, seeing that it was nearly sundown. "Wow. That time sure went by fast."

"I guess that we went later than we thought," Valery added.

"Anyone else wanna say anything before we go back to co-ed land?" Claire asked as they stood up. Nobody spoke up, so they all began heading towards the door.

"I wonder what the guys have been doing all this time," Taunter said as they left.

"Probably just doing manly stuff. I dunno," Calli shrugged.

"Heh. Yeah, I bet that it's manly stuff."

…...

"Guys, seriously, what is this, a pajama party?" Hunter asked in slight annoyance. "Are we really talking about this?"

"Uh-huh," Boomer nodded.

"Well, anyone else want to make any heartfelt confessions?" Smoker asked, slight sarcasm edging his voice. "Anyone? Anyone? No?"

"I bet that Sam likes someone," Hunter muttered.

"What makes you say that?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. I'm just saying it 'cause I feel like it, I guess."

"You just don't want to be the only one, huh?"

"Hey, Smoker's on my side, right? And…hey, I never said that I liked anyone!"

"Uh-huh, suuure you don't."

…...

It was later that evening when the girls returned. The guys came out of the safe room to meet them, and everyone was feeling a bit awkward during the meeting. Everyone was giving each other either smirks or nervous looks.

"Uhh…so, what were you guys doing?" Calli finally asked.

"Just stuff," Hunter shrugged. "Why's it matter?"

"I was just wondering."

"Well, we can't tell you," Jeffry announced with a smile, "because what's said in the safe room stays in the safe room! At least, that's what Boomer said." There was a long pause.

"Exactly…what were you guys talking about?" Claire asked, breaking the silence.

"Err…nothing. Nope, nothing, really…" Smoker said quickly, the boys quickly trying to find things to occupy themselves with.

"Do you think that they were talking about the same thing we were?" Taunter whispered to Calli.

"Them? No way. They're too 'manly' for that," Calli replied.

"Yeah, you're right," Taunter grinned. "Wanna go finish that painting now?"

"Sure, let's go."

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Lol this chapter made me go "Awwww :3". I usually listen to music when I write, and this time, a song actually inspired the romantic theme of the chapter. XD The song I was listening to while I wrote this time was "Love, Save the Empty" by Erin McCarley. It's a good song! X3 Anyway, time for the question of the day! :D Today's question is kind of special, though. :3 I've got ideas for four out of five of the remaining chapters (one of these ideas was taken from the comments, from Scorpion), and so, for the next chapter, I'm leaving it up to YOU! :D Lol.

So, what would you like to see in the next chapter? Come up with an idea, and tell me as you would answer one of the normal questions. The idea I like the most will be featured in the next chapter! X3 Good luck, guys! :D


	16. Fellowship of the Puke

This is what happens when you watch all three Lord of the Rings movies in a row, then try to come up with an idea for a chapter. Oh God. XD You guys will probably see some scenes that are a lot like parts in the movie... :3 Our characters seemed to fit perfectly… XD Anyway, I hope you enjoy! :D

Also: Aaaargggh two in the morning! Beware the grammar mistakes!

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. CozBlueX owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

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Smoker entered the alley from the safe room, looking a bit cautious for some reason, and holding onto something as if he was afraid of dropping it.

"What's that you've got there?" Hunter asked him as he passed.

"Some more of that Boomer puke in a jar," Smoker replied. "I found it inside the safe room, in one of Jeffry's boxes."

"Oh, that's mine…" Jeffry raised his hand a bit, but went unheard.

"Who is actually able to get that stuff into the bottles, anyway?" Calli wondered aloud. "I mean, seriously. Who would take time out of their day bottling puke? Hey, can I see it?"

"Sure, just be careful," Smoker said, handing it to her.

"I just want to see if you have to smash it, or if the top screws off," she said, inspecting the bottle as she took it. Calli pulled and twisted the top a bit, and it came off just like the top off of a regular bottle. "Oh. Well, there you go. Someone spends hours of their day putting puke in these things."

"Could you put the top back on that? It smells terrible," Hunter grumbled, covering his nose.

"Yeah, and I don't want the horde coming over here," Clawer agreed.

"Hang on, a second, okay?" Calli said, getting ready to put the top back on, seeing as if she kept it open, it would attract the horde. But just as she was going to replace the top, it slipped right out of her hands, rolling along the ground.

"Uh-oh," she said, looking at it rolling away. "I don't want to spill this, someone grab it!" But just as everyone else located exactly _what_ they were supposed to grab, it was too late. The cap had rolled right into a gutter drain in one of the side alleys.

"Oh. That's not good," Smoker said, hearing the howl of the horde. It was a bit far off, but they would still probably reach them soon.

"Great, the horde is going to trash this place _again_?" Sam asked.

"Not if we take this stuff away," Boomer replied. "If we take it somewhere, like…the dump, right? If we take it there, the horde won't come here."

"I could always just bring it back inside," Jeffry suggested.

"No, no, we have to get it far away. Over to the dump," Boomer told him.

"But who's going to want to do that?" Claire asked.

"Well, we need someone to go," Boomer took the bottle from Calli. "And I'm not fast enough to do it. So we need someone else. Anyone?" There was a long pause.

"Well…I'll do it," Hunter said after a while. "But only if you guys quit bugging me about stuff!"

"Alright, then, Hunter will be the Keeper of the Puke," Boomer said, handing Hunter the bottle.

"What's with the fancy name?"

"I don't know, it just sounds cooler. Anyway, who's going with him?"

"I'll go!" Taunter raised her hand. "Anything to get that puke away from here."

"I'd better go along too," Calli added. "Just to make sure that these two don't distract each other too much, right?"

"Hey," Hunter growled at her.

"Alright, then…" Boomer surveyed the circle a bit, trying to decide who else should go. "Take Smoker, Sam, and Mike with you for good measure."

"We don't get to choose whether we go or not?" Mike asked.

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Uh…cause I said so. Anyway! This will be your team for now! I'm going to call you all The Fellowship of the Puke!"

"The…what?" Hunter said after a long silence.

"Have you been reading old comics again?" Smoker asked Boomer.

"Uh…no…" Boomer said slowly. "…maybe. Whatever! You guys better get going, the horde will be here any second."

"Alright then, Fellowship, let's go!" Taunter said, leading the way out of the alley.

"Good luck!" Jeffry called after them as they left. There was a bit of a pause.

"I'm glad I didn't have to go," Claire said.

"Yup," Boomer nodded. "Now who's up for a game of Yahtzee?"

…...

"And so, the brave warriors made their way to the dump," Calli narrated as they walked down the street. "The Valiant Taunter, the Fast Mike, the Smoking Smoker, the…er…Southern Sam, the Super Duper Amazing Calli, and the Hoodie Loser."

"Hey!" Hunter shouted. "Want me to toss this puke in your face?"

"Guys, I think that we should speed up," Smoker told everyone. "I can hear the horde getting closer. We just need to put this in the dump and be done with it."

"We're fine," Hunter blew him off.

"Why don't you just give it to me so we can do it faster?" Mike asked.

"No, Boomer gave this stuff to me," Hunter refused to give it to him. "I'm keeping it for now."

"And even then, they could see the terrible power of the Boomer puke," Calli started up her narration again, "as it took over the mind and soul of Hunter, who didn't want to give it up for anything in the world. Because we all know that he loves puke."

"Shut up," Hunter said, trying to stop her. "Do you have to do that?"

"Yup."

"Come on, don't fight, let's just keep going," Smoker urged everyone on. "It sounds like the horde is almost right behind us."

"Well, let's check," Calli turned around and looked behind them. "Oh. And as the brave adventurers walked down the street all too slowly, little did they know that the Commons were about to nom on their heads." The rest of the group turned around in confusion, only to see the horde almost directly behind them. There was a general scrambling to get away, and in their haste, a few of them bumped into Hunter. When he was bumped into, a bit of the puke spilled onto Mike, Taunter, and Calli, much to their displeasure.

"Aw, not again!" Tauter shouted, looking at her hoodie.

"No time for that, let's just go," Smoker said, making the group run ahead, staying ahead of the Commons.

"Split up!" Mike said, running off down an alley. Calli and Taunter figured that they might as well follow him, since all three of them were covered in puke anyway. Hunter, Sam, and Smoker remained on the main street, making a run for the dump.

…...

"I think we'll be safe here," Calli said as she, Taunter, and Mike stopped in an alleyway. But as soon as she said that, Commons started pouring into the alley, only focusing on the Boomer puke splattered over the trio.

"Uh-oh," Taunter gulped, looking at the approaching mass of Commons. "This doesn't look good."

"I'll hold them off," Mike said, getting in front of the two girls. "You guys just go."

"Okay," Calli said, and she and Taunter started off down the alley.

"Hey, hang on!" Mike shouted after them. "You're not supposed to say that! You're supposed to go, 'No, we're sticking together!' or something like that!"

"Whatever," Calli shrugged, she and Taunter climbing up onto a fire escape.

"That's not-" was all Mike had time to say before he had to run from the approaching horde. "This isn't fair, dammit!"

"Should we be worried?" Taunter asked Calli.

"Maybe," Calli replied. "Hey, Mike! How's this? Noooo, not Mike! Oh no! Is that good?"

"Sure, whatever!" Mike was heard shouting as he was pursued into another alley, quickly losing the Commons.

"He should have climbed up onto a fire escape," Calli laughed a bit. But she paused when she heard the rusting metal underneath them creaking. Without warning, a screw came loose, and the whole platform they were standing on fell to the ground. The remaining Commons turned and looked at them.

"This…sucks," Taunter said as they started to approach.

"What would the distressed maidens do as-"

"Would you stop doing that?"

"…Fine. Just run!"

…...

"There's still a lot of them coming after us," Sam said, looking back at the group of Commons chasing them.

"Well, I'm not giving this thing up," Hunter shook his head.

"Why do you want to keep it so bad?"

"Because we have to get it to the dump."

"But why do you have to carry it?"

"Do _you _want to carry it?"

"No."

"Then why ask?"

"Never mind!"

"Guys, you keep going, I'll stop the Commons," Smoker said, stopping and turning.

"You can do that?" Hunter asked as he and Sam paused as well.

"No, but I can sorta kinda try," Smoker shrugged.

"Okay, you have fun with that," Sam nodded, then continuing off to the dump with Hunter. Smoker planted his feet squarely on the ground, staring at the Commons slowly bearing down on him. He held a hand out in front of him, a signal to stop.

"You shall not pass!" he shouted in the most threatening voice he could muster. But to his surprise and disappointment, the Commons simply ran around him. He turned to look at them in irritation. "Hey! I said you couldn't pass! Get back here!"

…...

"Hey, is someone following us?" Sam looked back as he and Hunter continued forward seeming to have lost the Commons for the moment.

"It's Jeffry," Hunter grumbled. "He's been following this whole time." He glanced back, seeing Jeffry attempting to follow them without being seen. "Hey, if you're going to stalk us like that, can't you come out and tell us _why_?"

"I just want my bottle back," Jeffry said, coming out of hiding. "It's really, really…er…what's the word? Precious?"

"Well, no matter how precious it is, we have to bring it to the dump," Sam told him.

"But I really really liked that bottle…" Jeffry approached them. "And, I mean, they just took it without asking…I'm fine with the cap being missing…can I just see it for a second?"

"No," Hunter said bluntly, moving it out of Jeffry's reach as the Sniffer tried to take it.

"But it's mine…" Jeffry frowned, trying to take it back again.

"No," Hunter repeated. "You can't have it back."

"I can show you where the dump is…" Jeffry suggested.

"We know where the dump is," Sam replied.

"Uh…I can show you where…uh…something…is…" Jeffry tried to think of something.

"No means no, squirt," Hunter said, he and Sam pulling ahead. "Go ahead back to the alley." As the two of them walked away, Jeffry watched them go. He wasn't going to be outdone _that_ easily.

…...

As Sam and Hunter reached the dump, they realized that it was really just that: a dump. The trash had overflowed the walls, and was piled up in muddy stacks along the sides and everywhere near it. There was so much of it that Sam accidentally tripped, getting himself all muddy.

"Perfect," he grumbled, standing up. "Alright, it looks like we're going to have to find another way to get in. I'll look around one side, you go around the other."

"Sure," Hunter agreed without looking at him. Sam went around the left side of the dump, while Hunter went around the right. Neither of them found a way in that wasn't blocked off somehow. After a minute or so, the two of them met again at the back.

"There's no way in, I guess," Sam said. "Here, give me the puke and I'll toss it over the wall."

"I'm not giving it to you," Hunter flat out refused.

"Why?"

"I don't even know who you are. You're covered in mud."

"You don't-" Sam paused, irritated. "Are you an idiot? How many people do you know that wear a camo hoodie?"

"Well, there might be a lot of Infected with camo hoodies. How am I supposed to know who you are?" Hunter seemed skeptical, and Sam couldn't tell whether he was just being annoying on purpose or not, though he probably was.

"It's me. It's Sam!" Sam told him.

"Who would that be?" Hunter questioned. Yeah. He was definitely just being annoying on purpose.

"I'm Sam, you moron! Now just give me the bottle so I can chuck it over, or else the Commons are going to come over here and swarm us!"

"I don't want to give it to you."

"Well, then, _you_ toss it over the wall!"

"I don't want to do that either."

"…Okay, now you're just being an ass. Just give me the bottle." Sam tried to take the bottle, and Hunter pulled it away.

"No, Sam. My bottle."

"See, you do know who I am!"

"Oh really?"

"Seriously, just give me the bottle!"

"No."

"Give me the damn bottle or just throw it over yourself!" Sam tried to take the bottle, and in the process, it sloshed around a bit, getting puke onto both of their sleeves. The bottle was now empty, save for a few drops.

"Oh, great, now look what you did!" Hunter said in annoyance.

"And here come the Commons…" Sam looked back, seeing the Commons coming around the corner. He looked around for an option, then found a tall dumpster that could provide them with some shelter for the moment. "Let's go up there." Sam and Hunter jumped up to the top of the dumpster, the Commons unable to get at them.

"Well, we should drop this in, anyway," Hunter said, holding the bottle over the edge of the wall. "See ya, puke bottle." But before he could let it go, it was suddenly grabbed from his hands. The two of them turned to see Jeffry standing next to them.

"Oh, come on!" Sam groaned.

"I got it!" Jeffry grinned, holding the bottle happily.

"Congrats," Hunter said, grabbing Jeffry by the back of his shirt. "Now either you let go, or you're going in with it."

"I'm not letting go," Jeffry shook his head, sure that Hunter was bluffing.

"Okay, see ya," Hunter pushed a surprised Jeffry forward, down into the muck below. "Come on, Sam, let's head back."

"Okay," Sam nodded, and the two of them started to try to make their way back while avoiding the Commons.

"Well," Jeffry said, thoroughly surprised as he sat in the pile of garbage. "At least I got the bottle back."

…...

After a while, the group was finally returning back to the alley. They all looked worn out and tired, seriously needing some rest.

"And so, the valiant heroes returned home," Calli narrated, "having utterly failed due to to Hunter being…well, just like himself."

"Whatever," Hunter blew her off.

"Well, how'd it go?" Boomer asked when everyone got inside the alley. "Did you get rid of the puke?"

"Well, all of us except for Smoker ended up getting puke on ourselves, so we all had to go wash off our clothes and such…but other than that…pretty good. Maybe."

"Well, your missions done. Good job," Boomer nodded to them. "Maybe I'll send you to get groceries next time."

"No way," Sam said. "This team if officially disbanded."

"Hey…where's Jeffie?" Valery asked, looking around.

"In the dump," Hunter replied.

"Why is he in the dump?" Smoker questioned, looking over at Hunter.

"He wouldn't let go of the bottle," Hunter shrugged. Boomer frowned disapprovingly at him.

"Remind me never to let you babysit," Boomer told him, heading out of the alley, hoping that he would be able to get Jeffry out of the dump.

"Works for me."

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Lol this chapter was fun. XD The "who are you" "I'm Sam!" part was just too perfect to pass up…since there's a scene like that in the movie, with a "I'm Sam!" and everything… XD And Jeffry seemed to make the perfect Golum, in the cutest way possible… XD Lol I really need to get a life. XD Anyway, question for this chapter!

If your Infected was faced with the choice of either saving themself or someone else, who would they save?


	17. Competition: You Know You Love It

Super long chapter to make up for how long I took! This one is nearly double the length of the usual chapters! :D Sorry that I was gone for so long! D: I was all busy, then my internet got all screwy…but, here's the new chapter! And since I've got the ideas for the last three chapters after this all lined up and ready to go, you won't need to worry about slow updates like this one! XD Anyway, enjoy the chapter! :3

Also, another note! I've realized that I made a boo-boo. x_x The owner of Claire actually Coheed17. CozBlueX is her name on Deviantart. I'm really sorry for messing up your name, Blue!

Aaaand, as usual, for some reason, I'm writing this in the middle of the night, so, beware the grammar mistakes!

P.S: Sometimes fanfiction will for some reason either underline or bold the whole document without me doing it. So, beware of that, too! o_o

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 or the characters in Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. Coheed17 owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

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"Hey! Hey, I found something!" Calli called, running into the alleyway.

"It's not anything we'll regret, is it?" Hunter asked.

"Nope, it's pretty cool! It's got a bunch of grass and metal stuff and such, too!"

"Grass and metal stuff?" Smoker questioned, confused.

"Uh…what was it called…" Calli thought for a moment. "Oh, right! I found a park!"

"Oh, I remember those!" Taunter smiled. "It's those places with the playgrounds and such, right?"

"Uh-huh. So, let's all go there now!"

"Right now?" Boomer asked.

"Yeah, right now! Let's go, let's go!"

"I don't feel like it," Hunter shook his head. Calli walked over to him, glaring straight into his face, at around the area where she would see his eyes if his hoodie wasn't blocking them off.

"You'll go and you'll like it, hoodie boy!" she said, still glaring.

"Nah…don't feel like it."

"Maybe I should just tell everyone about your sleep talking last night, then!" Calli crossed her arms, her mouth in a pout.

"I don't sleep talk," Hunter replied.

"Nope, I heard you. And you said some pretty funny stuff! Maybe I should tell everyone, right? But, if you come to the park with us, then I won't tell." A silence fell down over the alleyway, and Hunter seemed to be in decision.

"Fine, I'll come to the stupid park!" he said after a while. "Geez."

"Whoo!" Calli cheered. "Alright, any other objections?" Nobody seemed against it. "Okay, let's go!" All of them began leaving the alley, walking out into the street, following Calli in a steady stream.

"Hey, Calli," Taunter came up to walk next to her. "I wanna know…what was Hunter sleep talking about?"

"Hm…well…" Calli grinned. "He actually wasn't sleep talking at all. I just wanted to get him to come. If he didn't come, everybody else would have thought that it would be okay to stay, too."

"Oh, I get it. Cool. So, is this a good park?"

"Yeah, it's awesome! Just wait 'til you see it!"

…...

"Well, here we are!" Calli stretched out her arms, showing the park sitting in front of them. It was right on the edge of town, and absolutely huge. There was a big playground, and on the other side, a soccer field, a basketball court, and a track course, among a few other things.

"Wow, this place is big," Sam remarked as they entered.

"Cool, they've got a running course," Mike smiled.

"So, where do you guys wanna start?" Calli asked.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna play some b-ball!" Taunter grinned, running off towards the basketball court, and waving her arms around at the Commons milling around. "Get outta here, squatters!"

"I want to play too!" Calli called, following her over to the court, picking up a discarded basketball along the way. "Come on, let's get some more people! Girls vs. boys!"

"Who wants to play with us?" Taunter called, waving at the rest of the group.

"I'm more of a soccer guy," Sam shrugged.

"You're just scared that the girls'll beat you," Hunter smirked.

"No, I just like soccer more than basketball. Why don't you play, then? Are _you_ scared that they'll beat you?" Hunter shrugged, but didn't answer.

"Uh…I'll play," Smoker said, walking over to the court.

"Alright! We just need one more player…" Taunter said, glancing over at the group still standing near the entrance. It looked like Sam and Hunter were bickering about sports or some such thing, and Jeffry was going off towards the playground.

"Guys, quit fighting!" Smoker called over to Hunter and Sam.

"He says that he could beat me in soccer!" Hunter shouted back.

"…I bet he could."

"Well, gee, thanks, Smoker. You're always backing me up, huh?"

"Hey, that's it!" Calli said suddenly, dropping the basketball.

"What's it?" Taunter asked.

"We'll have one big competition, with lots of events! We'll split everyone up into two teams, and we'll have our own little mini Olympics!"

"Hey…cool idea," Smoker nodded.

"We can do girls vs. boys for that, too," Calli added quickly. "Alright, everyone, come over here! We're doing something else!" Soon enough, the girls and boys had split into teams on the court. Jeffry, on the other hand, was having too much fun on the playground to pay particular attention to the activity.

"There's no way we'll lose," Hunter scoffed, sure of their victory.

"Hey, wait, we're not even teams," Valery spoke up. "We've only got four girls. You guys have six guys. Give us one of your people, then we'll be even."

"We call Mike!" Calli shouted, grabbing Mike and dragging him over to the girl's side.

"Oh, come on! Now we'll definitely lose!" Hunter grumbled.

"Mike, are you okay with joining our team?" Claire asked him.

"Sure, I guess," Mike shrugged. All of the boys on the other team gave out a chorus of groans and protestations. "What? It's not like whichever team I'm on will automatically win, right?"

"Yeah, it sorta is," Sam replied. Mike shrugged again, not really seeing their point.

"I'll be the girls' captain!" Calli announced. "Who wants to be the boys' captain?" There wasn't really any answer, but all eyes seemed to float over towards Smoker, seeing as how he always usually took the leadership roles.

"Uhh…I will?" Smoker said, feeling awkward while being stared at by everyone.

"Alright, now, let's flip a coin or something to see which team gets to pick an event first," Calli said, glancing around. She eventually found a Frisbee, and picked it up. "There'll be three events, and whoever wins two of them will win the whole thing! Now, let's flip this Frisbee and see who gets to pick first. Call a side, Smoker."

"Hmm…tails," he said after a moment.

"Okay, then, we're heads," Calli nodded, tossing the Frisbee up into the air. It flopped down in the middle of the two groups, and they all looked at the result.

"That's…tails, right?" Sam asked.

"Looks like heads to me," Mike replied.

"Did we ever even choose which side was which?" Valery questioned.

"I think it's heads," Calli decided. "Aaand, I'm the one who threw it, so I get to choose."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Hunter objected.

"Don't worry, we get to choose next," Smoker told him.

"But they're going to choose something that Mike will win for sure," Hunter grumbled.

"Excellent idea!" Calli laughed. She glanced around until her eyes rested upon the track course. "And I know just the event."

…...

"Alright, so, it's one lap around!" Calli shouted to the runners out on the course. "There's two runners from each team, so good luck!" The boys' team had chosen Sam and Hunter, seeing as that out of all of them, those two were the fastest they had. The girls and Mike's team and chosen Mike, of course, and Taunter, who had on occasion said that she was a fast runner. "Is everyone in their lanes? Remember, you can't step out of your own lane, or else you're disqualified! Okay…now, ready…set…and…go!" As Calli shouted the signal to start, the runners were off, and Mike was nearly halfway around the huge track in just a second or two. Even Taunter was pulling ahead somehow.

"How are you so fast?" Hunter shouted over to her as he ran. She shrugged at him, and continued running. The race was over almost as soon as it began. Mike was in first, as expected by everyone, and hadn't even broken a sweat. Taunter had pulled in at second. And Sam and Hunter had been so close that it was hard to tell, but as it turned out, Hunter had stepped into Sam's lane without realizing it, and was disqualified.

"We win!" Calli cheered. "Girls, and Mike, rule!"

"I saw that coming," Sam shrugged.

"Alright, we're in the lead!" the girls (and Mike, of course) were having a good day, and that was definite.

"Okay, okay, whatever!" Hunter broke up the cheering group. "Now, it's _our_ turn to choose an event!"

"Sure, go ahead and choose one," Calli nodded. "We'll kick your butts anyway."

"Let's talk about this for a little bit," Boomer suggested before Hunter blurted anything out. "We have to choose something that we're good at." The boys' team came together into a huddle of sorts, ready to chose what kind of event they would do.

"Alright, so, what kind of sports are you guys good at?" Smoker asked. "I don't know about you guys, but I really suck at this sports stuff. I mean, if we had Tank here, we'd be fine, but we don't. So, does anyone here know sports well?"

"I do," Sam replied. "I'm pretty good at soccer."

"Okay, that could work. Any other suggestions?" There weren't any other responses, and so, they're event was chosen upon.

"We're choosing soccer," Smoker announced as his team turned to face their opponents.

"Still involves running," Mike said with a little chuckle, and his team headed off towards the soccer field. "Anyone see a soccer ball around here?"

"Exactly how good at soccer _are_ you?" Hunter asked Sam.

"Good enough," Sam replied. "It'll be fine. We'll win this one for sure."

…...

The two teams had managed to get Jeffry off the playground for a second, and he was in the position of referee. The positions for each team had been chosen as well. For the team of the girls and Mike, Calli and Claire were on offense, Valery and Taunter on defense, and Mike in the goal, with hopes that his speed would help him block any balls that came his way. As for the boys' team, Boomer had originally be assigned the goal, due to the fact that he was big enough to fill up a large portion of it, but they switched him into defense for fear of him getting hit in the stomach and throwing up. Smoker was now in the goal, Boomer and Clawer on defense, and Hunter and Sam on offense. They hadn't been able to find a soccer ball, so now, Jeffry walked into the middle of the field with the basketball they had found earlier. The goal of the game was to be the first to get two points. A few Commons seemed slightly interested with this spectacle, and were watching from afar.

"You all know the rules, right?" Jeffry said, looking at each team's offense. "You can't hold the ball with your hands. And remember to pass to people. Okay, now, I'm going to put the ball down here, then you all start once I get over to the side, okay?" Jeffry placed the ball onto the ground in the middle of the field, then started making his way back over to the side of the area.

"You guys are going down," Calli grinned, anticipating the starting signal.

"You'd better be right about this, Sam," Hunter said just as Jeffry reached the edge of the field.

"Ready?" he called. "Okay, go!" Much to Calli and Claire's surprise, the ball was gone in an instant, and Sam was already past them and moving down the field.

"That was fast," Claire said, turning around to look.

"Nice one!" Hunter laughed, running past the two girls on offense to try to help Sam if needed.

"Hey, heads up, defense!" Calli called. Valery ran up to try to steal the ball, but Sam maneuvered around her. He'd obviously had experience with soccer before, at some point. Taunter placed herself between Sam and the goal, but as he kicked the ball to try to score, she found herself squealing and laughing a bit in fear, ducking and covering her head as soon as the ball came within even three feet of her. Before Mike knew it, the ball went careening into the upper right corner of the goal, bouncing off the net and falling to the ground. He was surprised at just how fast the ball had flown into the goal.

"Goal!" Jeffry called from the sidelines. "Girls' ball!"

"Girls and Mike!" Mike corrected him.

"Sorry. Girls and Mike's ball!" Jeffry changed his call. Mike picked the ball up off the ground, knowing that he would have to throw it back into play. There were two obstacles: Sam and Hunter. Hunter, he wasn't so worried about. Sam was the real problem. He held the ball in his hands, looking for an opening. He saw that Hunter and Sam were more near to Valery than to Taunter, so Taunter was the best choice to toss it to.

"Heads up!" Mike called as he threw it to her. It landed at her feet, rolling a bit, and she stared at it dumbly for a second, flustered as to what to do. She kicked it as fast as she could when she saw the opposing team coming over, not really controlling which direction it went in. Sam was about to kick it back towards the goal when Calli came in out of nowhere, kicking it away from him at the last second. And then, she was off down the field, Sam close on her heels, trying to steal the ball. Claire came running down the field as well, trying to help out Calli however she could. Boomer had some trouble getting over to Calli fast enough to try to defend, but Clawer put himself in her way. She resorted to her usual tactic during sports involving kicking balls around: She kicked it right between his legs, and as it rolled out the other side, she ran around him to get it. Before anyone could steal it from her again, she kicked it towards the goal, trying to get it to one of the upper corners, as Sam had done. Smoker knew that he couldn't jump that high, so he reached out his tongue, managing to stop the blow, yet not expecting how much it would hurt when he did so. Still, what can one expect when a soccer ball comes hurtling into their tongue?

"Oww!" Smoker shouted, his tongue recoiling away from the ball as it fell to the ground. "God damn!"

"Ooh! Sorry!" Calli called over to him. As he was tending to his soon-to-be-bruised tongue, however, Claire got a foot on the ball, and kicked it straight into the goal.

"That's a goal!" Jeffry called.

"Hey, hey, I call a foul!" Hunter shouted. "Smoker's tongue got all messed up!"

"Fouls are only when players hurt other players. Not when the ball hurts a player by accident," Jeffry replied. "So, no foul. And it's a goal. It's tied now. Boys' ball!"

"Hey, wai' ah cahnt pwae wif mah tongue like thisth," Smoker protested, his tongue dangling out of his mouth even more so than usual, the swelling impeding his speech.

"Well, then you wouldn't have enough players, right?" Jeffry asked. "You guys would have to be disqualified, then."

"Ah, your tongue is fine, right, Smoker?" Hunter called from across the field.

"I think it's swelling up," Boomer said, looking over at Smoker.

"Swelling? I don't see any swelling."

"That's just because you're way over there."

"Guys, I'm worried about this tongue and all, but if he's out, then the girls win!"

"Girls and Mike!" Mike shouted.

"Whatever! Do you guys really want the girls _and Mike_ to win?"

"Wewl, ah gesth itsth okay," Smoker said after a moment. "Ah mean, ifth you wanna win that badry, then itsth thine."

"Are you sure?" Boomer asked Smoker. "Your tongue looks like it's going to be swelling pretty badly for a while now."

"Don' wowwy abowt me," Smoker said. "Wowwy abowt Huntah being pissthed and annoyin' ifth we loosth."

"Well, gee, thanks," Hunter rolled his eyes.

"Well, okay," Boomer shrugged. "Smoker is staying in, Jeffry."

"Okay, boys' ball," Jeffry called as Smoker picked up the ball from the ground. Everyone seemed a bit concerned about him, but apparently, the game took precedence over that. Smoker sighed, then tossed the ball to Clawer, who kicked it closer to the half-field, then passed it to Hunter. Hunter passed it to Sam, who once again managed to outmaneuver everyone. Sam aimed for the goal, and kicked the ball.

"It's not getting past me this time!" Mike said, getting ready to stop the ball. He reached out, catching the ball just in time. He paused for a moment, looking at the ball in his hands.

"Oh, _yes_!" he shouted happily, tossing the ball to the ground as he had seen a football player do in a showing of a game that had been on a T.V. he had seen once. The two sports were different, but why not toss down the ball anyway? He was happy, after all!

"Goal," Jeffry called, and Mike froze up in confusion.

"No, I caught it!" he protested.

"Look at where you threw it," Valery said, pointing at his feet. Mike looked downwards, only to see that when he had tossed the ball down in victory, he had thrown it right behind the goal line, and into the goal.

"What?…What? Aw, no, come on, that doesn't count!"

"Sure does," Jeffry nodded, contradicting him. "And that means that the boys' team got to two points first, so they win!"

"Yes!" Hunter shouted, punching the air in enthusiasm. "We're so going to win this whole thing!" He paused for a second, looking over at Sam. He could hardly believe what he was about to say. "Uh…you did…er…a good job. Yeah. Good job, Sam."

"You did a good job, too," Sam told him as they went back to their side.

"Me? I hardly did anything. I guess that you really are as good at soccer as you said you were."

"Yup."

"Okay, our turn to choose the event!" Calli called.

"What? But that's unfair, there's only one event left," Boomer replied.

"Wah don' you dyust wet Dyethry tyoose?" Smoker asked.

"…what?" Hunter said, everyone turning to him and having no idea what he had said.

"Dyust wet Dyethry tyoose," he repeated.

"…Does anyone know what he's saying?" Sam asked.

"Dyethry! Wet Dyethry tyoose!" Smoker said, pointing to Jeffry in exasperation.

"Jeffry?" Boomer asked. "What about Jeffry?"

"Wet him tyoose!" Smoker spoke slowly, trying to get past the swelling lump on his tongue. "Ifth he tyooses deh next ethent, den neethu' team hasth to tyoose."

"Let him choose the next event?" Boomer asked, trying to translate Smoker's swollen tongue language.

"Yesth!" Smoker said, glad that someone finally got it. "Hesth not on eithu' team, thso he can tyoose fthairy."

"I still have no clue what Smoker is saying, but Jeffry, you get to choose the next event," Boomer turned away from Smoker and towards Jeffry. "What do you want the next even to be?"

"How about an obstacle course?" Jeffry said after thinking for a moment. "They had one of those back on the playground."

"Sure, that'll work," Hunter shrugged.

"I'm fine with it, too," Calli nodded, then turned to face the other team's captain. "What do you think about it, Smoker."

"Itsth thine," he replied.

"Okay, it's this way," Jeffry said, leading the teams off towards the playground. Smoker lagged behind a bit, still nursing his tongue a bit. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought that he saw a flash of white, and turned to look at the nearby trees. Then, he saw them: Survivors. It was the four that they always saw.

"Hey!" he called, running after the rest of the group of his friends. "Hey, guyths! Thah ah thurfythors ovah thah!"

"Smoker, seriously, we can't understand a word you're saying," Hunter told him. "Let's just follow Jeffry to the last place so we can win already."

"But thah ah thurfythors! Wayt ovah thah! Wook! Wook ovah thah!" Smoker waved his arms around a bit, but was ignored, due to the fact that nobody had any clue what he was saying now that his tongue had swollen up more. He sighed, and followed the rest of the group.

…...

It had happened. Boomer puked. The obstacle course had been a tag team event, and Hunter had accidentally hit Boomer's stomach instead of his hand while not looking. Luckily, he had managed to get out of the way before Boomer spewed, though. But now, the Commons were stampeding over to them, and they had had to take shelter up on top of the play structures of the playground.

"Nice going," Calli said to Hunter. "Now we can't finish."

"Well, we were closer to finishing anyway," Hunter replied. "So, we would have won either way." Suddenly, gunshots rang out through the air, and the group all turned to see some figures running out of the trees. Survivors.

"Ah tolt you! Ah tolt you thah wuh thurfythors!" Smoker shouted.

"Man, where did these guys come from?" Sam asked as the four survivors began their approach towards them. "Did anyone see them?"

"Ah dit!" Smoker said, getting annoyed now. "Ah thaw them!" But suddenly, the survivors were shooting at them, and they had to take cover behind the walls of the play structure.

"Fire in the hole!" came a shout, and something came flying over one of the walls. It was beeping.

"Thit, itsth another pipe bom!" Smoker shouted.

"Move, move, move!" Hunter shouted, all of them either jumping or tumbling off the back of the play structure and running away from the explosion while the Commons were caught in the blast.

"Ah hayte pipe boms!" Smoker said as they all ran in the opposite direction. "Ah thucking hayte pipe boms!" They all continued running until they were a good distance away, then stopped.

"Shouldn't we go back and attack them?" Mike asked.

"Nah, they'd just toss more of those pipe bombs at us," Calli shook her head.

"Ah thucking hayte pipe boms," Smoker grumbled under his breath.

"Well then, let's just head back. There's nothing out here at the park. They'll have to come back to the city eventually," Hunter shrugged.

"Yeah, you're right," Taunter agreed. "Let's go back."

"So, who won, then?" Clawer asked as they started on their way back to the alley.

"Like I said before, _we_ were closer, so we win," Hunter replied.

"What? That's not fair!" Calli objected. "I call for a rematch!"

"We'll beat you anytime!" Hunter scoffed.

"I'd like to see you try!"

"Maybe we will!"

"Yeah, maybe you should!"

"This is going to be a long afternoon," Boomer sighed.

…...

Nick shot down the last Common Infected, and finally, the four survivors were alone in the park.

"So, Ellis, where's this great thing that you had to show us?" Nick asked, turning to the mechanic. "I don't see anything too special here. Just a playground and a few sports courts."

"Oh, well, that _is_ all it is," Ellis replied. "I just really like this place."

"…you made us go through two hordes _just_ to come to a playground that you _really like?_"

"Well…yeah. You know, me and Keith used to have a whole lot of fun here! There was this one time when me and Keith-"

"Ellis," Nick cut him off, putting a hand on his shoulder and trying not to lose his own temper, "just forget your story…let's go back to town…and find a place that really _matters_."

"Well, fine, geez, Nick. Just wanted a break from all this zombie apocalypse stuff, you know?" Ellis asked as the four of them started on their way back, the other three thoroughly annoyed. "I mean, this place is great! Heck, it's almost as good as Kiddie Land. You know, that reminds me, did I ever tell you about the time that my buddy Keith drowned in the tunnel of love? Now, the water looks all shallow, but that's what gets ya. He was with his lady, and he was shouting for her to save him, but she didn't wanna get wet-"

"Ellis. Please. Don't even _start_…"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Lollll Smoker and his tongue talking XD I literally had to stick out my tongue and say the lines just to figure out how to write them. XD And now, to make everyone's lives easier, here's translations of all of Smoker's tongue-talk lines:

1: "Hey, wait, I can't play with my tongue like this."

2: "Well, I guess it's okay. I mean, if you want to win that badly, then it's fine."

3: "Don't worry about me. Worry about Hunter being pissed and annoying if we lose."

4: "Why don't you just let Jeffry choose?"

5: "Just let Jeffry choose."

6: "Jeffry! Let Jeffry choose!"

7: "Let him choose! If he chooses the next event, the neither team has to choose."

8: "Yes! He's not on either team, so he can choose fairly!"

9: "It's fine."

10: "Hey! Hey, guys! There are survivors over there!"

11: "But there are survivors! Right over there! Look! Look over there!"

12: "I told you! I told you there were survivors!"

13: "I did! I saw them!"

14: "Shit, another pipe bomb!"

15: "I hate pipe bombs! I fucking hate pipe bombs!"

16: "I fucking hate pipe bombs."

Please excuse Smoker's language lol XD And now, time for the question of the chapter! :D This question is another situation question! :D

Omg! The Infected from the alley are going to Kiddie Land! What does your Infected do while they're there? And do they have fun?


	18. Holy shit, guys! KIDDY LAND!

Aarrrgh, I said that I would be faster this time, but I wasn't! x_x I promise that I'll be faster for the next two chapters! D: Anyway, I had gotten a suggestion for Kiddy Land, so here you go! Kiddy Land! Sorry it took so long. I went to my friend's house and we played through (or at least, he played through, since his other controller is broken :P) Dark Carnival, just so that I could get this as accurate as possible! X3 Lol. I love the Dark Carnival poster… "You must be this tall….TO DIE." XD It always makes me laugh. XD Anyway, I hope that you enjoy the chapter! :3

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 or the characters in Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC, the personalities that I have given to the already existing special infected, and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. Coheed17 owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

As if things couldn't get any more interesting. Besides the fact that they had found a park nearby, they had found something even better. A park, but much bigger. Much, much bigger. It was full of huge rides, with lights up everywhere, though not very many of them were still working. Still, some of the rides were still working, and thus, were usable. Sam had been the one to find this seemingly amazing place while he was out looking for survivors in order to pass some time. After he told everyone else about it, there was some question as to whether they should go or not. But after some convincing, Calli got everyone out of the alley and off towards the amusement park. They had even managed to get Witch and Tank to come along, though Witch was still crying the whole way.

"I wonder what that sign up there says," Valery noted as they entered the park, looking up at the sign above them that read "Kiddy Land" in survivor writing. But of course, none of them could read it, so they paid it no mind.

"Oh, wow!" Calli glanced all around, trying to decide what to do first. "Where should we go first? Oh, oh, let's go over there! No, wait, there! Hey, wow, look at that!" She was scurrying all over the place seeming to have to look at or touch everything while everyone else took their time walking inside.

"Alright, we're going to have to organize a bit for this," Boomer said to the group. "Why don't we split off into groups? Let's see, how many of us are there…?" Boomer counted each person in the group, making sure to do a recount just to be safe. "Okay, let's do three groups with four people in the first two and five in the last one. Sound good?"

"Do we get to chose our groups?" Taunter asked him.

"Well, sure," he replied. "Let's just get going and do some stuff here before the sun goes down. How about that's when we'll meet back here: at sundown. Anyway, let's get into our groups." There was some general scurrying around but soon enough, the groups had been formed. The first group was made up of Hunter, Smoker, Taunter, and Calli; the second group was Sam, Claire, Boomer, and Jeffry; the third and final group was made up of Mike, Valery, Clawer, Tank, and Witch.

"So, we're meeting back here at sundown?" Smoker confirmed.

"Yup," Boomer nodded. "Each group can go do whatever it wants, now."

"Roller coaster! Roller coaster!" Calli shouted immediately, beginning to drag Smoker off, and forcing Hunter and Taunter to follow.

"Let's go check things out over here, guys," Mike said, pointing down a path, and the rest of his group followed.

"Alright then, we'll go this way," Boomer concluded, indicating the only path that hadn't been used yet.

"I wonder what we'll find down this way," Claire said as they walked.

"Probably nothing too exciting," Sam shrugged. Then, they noticed something down the path. It was a small machine with a table-like surface as a part of it. The table-like part had five holes in it, and the four of them came a bit closer to inspect it better.

"What's that?" Boomer asked in confusion.

"I don't know…" Sam was the one who came closest. He saw that there was a small button on the side, and decided to press it, wondering what would happen. To all of their surprise, the machine suddenly lit up, and a little song started playing. Then, something that vaguely resembled a mole popped out of one of the holes.

"Hey, get back in there!" Sam said, hitting it back inside quickly, not really knowing what it would do. He saw that upon doing this, the survivor writing inside a screen, lit up in red, changed.

"I think that you're supposed to hit those things," Claire told him. "There's another one, get it!" Sam reacted quickly, hitting down the second mole that popped up. He picked up the padded mallet sitting by the side of the machine, and used it to bop down any moles that popped up out of the holes while the other three watched him intently.

"This is kind of fun!" Sam smiled, still whacking the moles even as they popped up faster and faster. It was getting harder to hit them, but Sam was still having fun. "Get back in there, you!" After a minute or so of this, the game played a little tune, and the lights flashed in a sort of pattern, then the moles stopped popping up. There was a general pause.

"Don't I win anything?" Sam asked after a moment. He took a glance around the machine, but nothing had popped out of anywhere. "Well, geez. What a rip-off."

"Oh well, maybe we can find a game that does have prizes," Boomer said as they began to walk away. Jeffry paused for a moment, searching the machine one last time, sure that there must be something there. To his delight, he did find a few coins in the change slot, and pocketed them, then following after the rest of his group.

…...

"This over here looks kind of interesting," Valery said, pointing over at a dark looking house-like structure.

"Huh. Wonder what it is," Mike said, walking over, also wanting to take a look.

"I bet it's a haunted house," Clawer said, approaching the first two along with Tank and Witch.

"Hm…it's probably not working," Mike shrugged. "I say we go find something else."

"Sure, sounds good to me," Valery agreed. The two of them walked off, Tank following behind.

"But I want to go in!" Clawer objected, not wanting to leave. He turned, and saw that Witch wasn't going anywhere, though she was still crying as usual.

"Uh…" Clawer tried to think of something to say to her. "Do _you_ want to come in the haunted house with me?"

"If I go in, something will probably startle me," Witch replied tearfully.

"Well, like Mike said, none of the electric stuff is probably working. Nothing will pop out or anything."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Want to go inside?"

"Well…okay," Witch finally agreed. "But I get scared really easily. I'm just warning you." Clawer nodded, and the two of them started off towards the entrance to the haunted house.

…...

"I think that we lost Clawer and Witch," Valery said, turning around to look behind the group. There were only three of them there.

"Well, I'm guessing that they'll be fine on their own," Mike replied. "I mean, I don't know Clawer's way of dealing with survivors, but I know that if any trouble shows up, that Witch will tear them all to shreds in a second." Mike took a glance ahead of them, and saw what looked to be a huge stadium dead ahead. "Hm? What's that?" He took a few steps closer, and saw that in the middle of the stadium, there was a huge stage, complete with speakers and a lights system. "Hm…this could be fun…"

…...

"Hey, are you sure that this is safe?" Smoker asked, taking a seat in the roller coaster car next to Calli.

"Sure, it's safe!" Calli replied with a smile. "After all, Hunter and Taunter are taking care of running it right?"

"Well, yeah, but still…"

"It'll be fine!" Calli assured him. Over by the control box, Taunter and Hunter were trying to figure out just how they should start the coaster.

"Is it this over here?" Taunter asked, looking at a control panel.

"I've got no clue how to work this thing," Hunter said, shaking his head.

"Well, I'm going to try this button, then!" Taunter pushed down a large button that she had found, and it worked. The lights on the sides of the tracks lit up, and some music started up as well. The roller coaster car started moving forward, going up the trail.

"Happy trails," Hunter said sarcastically, waving up at the two being steadily moved up the hill by the coaster car.

"Uhh…I really, really don't think that this is safe, Calli," Smoker said, seeing that they were approaching the top of the hill. "I mean, there aren't even any seatbelts on this thing…"

"Oh, come on, Smoker! Have a little fun for once!" Calli laughed. "And as for the seatbelts thing, just hold on really, really tight and you'll be fine!"

"But we're going to fall out!" Smoker gripped onto his side of the cart so hard that his already pale skin began to whiten.

"No, we're not, don't worry," Calli told him just as they reached the top of the hill. "Alright, here we go! Woohoo! Put your hands up in the air!"

"But I thought you said to hold-" was all that Smoker had time to say before the car plunged down the hill.

"Looks like they're having fun," Taunter said, she and Hunter watching as the car raced around the track, Calli laughing and squealing with glee while Smoker seemed a lot more worried about falling out and was shouting something or other about lack of medical care.

"Let's head over to the end point and see how they made out," Hunter said, chuckling a bit as he began to make his way to the other end of the coaster, Taunter following behind. It took them a minute or two, but they finally made it over to them.

"So, how was the ride?" Taunter asked when she and Hunter climbed up onto the platform.

"It was great!" Calli exclaimed. "I love this thing!"

"And how about you, Smoker?" Hunter asked, trying to keep from laughing upon seeing Smoker sitting in his seat and practically shaking, gripping onto the front and side of the car. "How was your ride?"

"Well…" Smoker said after a pause. "I didn't fall out. So it was good."

"Alright, let's go!" Calli stood up, then pulled Smoker up out of the car. "Let's go again!"

"H-Huh?"

…...

"Hey, this looks kind of cool," Claire called over to the rest of her group, and they came over to see what she was talking about.

"A target game?" Sam asked, seeing that it was one of those games where targets moved along tracks, and the players had to shoot them to earn points, and the more points they got, the better the prize that they would get in the end. "We could play it if only we had a gun or something."

"You could always jump in there and knock them down," Boomer suggested.

"Huh. That's true. Alright, someone start it up!" Sam jumped into the open space in between the tracks, and Claire pressed the button to start the machine. Sam easily knocked down every target that passed, racking up the points rather quickly. When the game was over, a small bell rang, and lights lit up along the prize box. Jeffry went over to the prize box, and opened it up, grabbing what was inside, hoping for something shiny. But as soon as he saw what he had gotten, he dropped it in surprise and slight fear, running over and hiding behind Boomer. The other three looked down at their prize in confusion. It was a gnome. Some sort of garden gnome.

"First we don't get a prize, and now our prize is this thing?" Sam asked. "Geez. What kind of theme park is this?"

"It's…kinda creepy," Claire said, scooting away from the smiling gnome slightly.

"Yeah," Boomer agreed with a nod, putting a hand protectively onto Jeffry's shoulder. "This thing is freaking me out."

"Alright, let's just get rid of it, then," Sam picked up the gnome, then chucked it at the nearest group of Commons milling around. "Here! It's free!" One of the Commons caught it without meaning to, and stared at it in puzzlement.

"Let's keep going before he decides to make a return," Sam said, turning and heading towards the opposite direction. "Besides, it's almost sundown. We won't get to do much else if we don't hurry."

"Right, let's go," Boomer agreed, and the group headed off down the path.

…...

"Well, it is pretty dark in here," Clawer said as he and Witch walked through the haunted house. "I guess that none of the things that pop out are working.

"I hope not," Witch sniffled.

"Some of the spring activated things might still work, though…" just as Clawer said this, the two of them stepped onto a panel that made a cardboard cut-out of a ghost pop out of the floor directly in front of them.

"Eeek!" Witch screamed, covering her head with her hands and running in the direction they had just come from.

"Hey, hang on!" Clawer called after her. He grabbed the "ghost" and bent it in half to show her that it was fake. "Look, this is only cardboard!" There was no response, so he walked out of the house the way that they had gone in, finding Witch sitting on the steps, crying, of course.

"You don't like haunted houses, huh?" he asked, sitting down next to her.

"No," she shook her head. "I really don't like haunted houses."

"Well…uh…want to go look for something else, then?"

"Okay," Witch agreed. "As long as it's not scary."

"Sure, we can-" Clawer paused, looking over in a different direction, where lights had just lit up a different section of the park. "…What's that?"

…...

"Are you sure that this is okay?" Valery asked as Mike messed around with the light board that connected to the stage, turning on the performance lights.

"Sure, it's okay!" Mike replied. "I mean, a concert? What more could you ask for, huh?" He started walking down the stairs, being careful not to trip on his way down. "Now, let me see if I can get the music going!"

…...

"Hey, guys?" Calli said after she and Smoker had finished going on the roller coaster for the third time, Smoker acting as if he had just been pulled through one of the scariest experiences of his life.

"Yeah?" Taunter asked, turning to her.

"Smoker and I need to go do something else," Calli told Taunter and Hunter. "You guys should try riding the roller coaster while we're gone, it's really fun!"

"Where are you guys going?" Hunter asked as Calli began to lead Smoker down off the platform.

"It's a secret," Calli replied. "And Smoker, you have to close your eye while we're going there, okay?"

"Uh, okay," Smoker nodded, closing his one good eye.

"Hm…I really wanna know where they're going!" Taunter frowned.

"Well…they never said that we couldn't follow them," Hunter said after a moment. Taunter grinned at him.

"You read my mind."

…...

"No way," Hunter said as he and Taunter watched Calli lead Smoker into her destination. "They're going in _there_? Why would they go into the Tunnel of Love?"

"I think I know," Taunter giggled. "Come on, let's go get a closer look!" As the two of them jumped out of the bushes they were hiding in, Hunter smirked and took a moment to grab an abandoned camera off of one of the tables scattered around.

"This should be good," he said, laughing to himself a bit.

…...

"Okay, you can open your eye now," Smoker heard Calli say, and he finally opened his eye to look around. He blinked a few times, trying to get used to the dim (yet somehow pink) light around them. What he saw was a mostly heart themed building with a few swans sitting around.

"What is this place?" he asked her.

"It's the Tunnel of Love," she replied, then adding quickly, "I mean, I thought that it might be cool to see what was inside, since we had already seen all of the other rides."

"Huh, true…" he looked over at the swans again, Apparently the swans themselves were the cars for the ride, but they were simply sitting on the ground, and not even raised. Maybe they had been floating in the water before? "Looks like it's not working. Too bad, huh?"

"Man, the stupid Commons had to go and kill the ride operator," Calli pouted a bit. "They could have at least waited until we got a ride…" She looked around at the few Commons wandering around, and spotted one in a uniform that looked like park staff.

"Hey, you," she walked over to him, pushing him into the operation booth. "Work this thing." The Common stared at her dumbly obviously not understanding what she meant. "You're the one who used to work this thing, right? So, make it work." The Common still didn't get it, and Calli sighed in exasperation and walked back over to Smoker.

"Sorry that it's not working," Smoker said to her. "Do you want to go find another ride?"

"Hm…maybe," Calli paused. "But first, there's-" She stopped talking when there was a crashing sound nearby, and the two of them turned to look, seeing that one of the plank wood stand-ups in one of the hollows of the tunnel had fallen. And who should be behind it but no one other than Hunter.

"H-Hey!" Calli shouted, looking a little embarrassed at finding out that Hunter was there. "Why are you back there?" Hunter shrugged, and didn't bother to look over at Taunter, who was hiding in one of the front corners out of sight.

"What? Do you think you can turn invisible or something?" Smoker asked him dully.

"Uh…no," Hunter replied. Then, he held up the camera that he had brought in. "Either way, do you guys want a commemorative photo or something as long as I'm here spying on you?"

"Ugh, Hunter, you're an ass!" Calli shouted, beginning to storm out of the tunnel through the entrance.

"Nice going," Smoker said to him before he followed Calli out to see if she was alright.

"What? What? Come on!" Hunter said after they left, not really seeing what the big deal was. "Nothing happened anyway. And I didn't even take a picture."

"Oh well, we can always apologize later," Taunter told him, coming out of her hiding place. "And plus, it's not your fault that you knocked over the thing, by the way, it's fine." Hunter shrugged, then took a glance around the tunnel.

"Geez. This place is so lovey dovey."

"Yeah, really sappy, huh?"

"Yeah…" There was a general pause, feeling very awkward, but before either of them could say anything, a loud noise echoed through the tunnel. It was music.

"Where's that coming from?" Taunter looked around quickly.

"Outside, I think," Hunter replied, walking over towards the entrance. "Let's go take a look outside." Once the two of them got outside, they found Smoker and Calli near the entrance, Calli freaking out about something or other.

"Calli, it's just music. Nothing to worry about," Smoker was saying.

"A-Are you sure that it's safe? I've never heard this before!" Calli replied, glancing around.

"Yes, I'm sure it's safe. Trust me. Safer than going on a roller coaster with no seatbelts, and in that case, you're fine."

"Where's the music coming from?" Hunter asked him.

"Over there," Smoker pointed over to a lit up stadium across the park. "I don't know who started it up, though."

"Let's go check it out!" Taunter smiled, starting down the path. The others followed her, Calli somewhat reluctantly, as they headed towards the stadium.

…...

"Hey, do you guys hear music…?" Boomer asked, and the rest of them paused.

"Holy SHIT!" Sam shouted suddenly. "That's the Midnight Riders! It's the Midnight Riders!"

"Midnight Riders? Who are they?" Claire asked.

"Only one of the _best_ bands ever!" Sam exclaimed, unable to believe that the others didn't know them. He looked around, trying to find the source of the music, and soon spotted the lights coming from the stadium. "Come on, guys, let's go!"

…...

"Yeah, turn it UP!" Mike shouted, having turned on the pre-recorded music on-stage. Valery and Tank were sitting in the bleachers. Valery was enjoying the music, while Tank still seemed as irritable as ever. More groups were coming in through the entrance, and now even Commons were coming in, too, thinking that there might be survivors, but upon seeing that there weren't any, simply sat down onto the bleachers, figuring that they might as well stay to listen.

"Whoo! Midnight Riders!" Sam shouted after his group had taken seats in the bleachers of the stadium.

"Did Mike turn on the music?" Smoker, who's group had just arrived, asked Valery.

"Yup," Valery replied. "It's pretty good, huh?"

"Yeah, it is," Smoker nodded, then turned to Calli for a moment. "See? It's just sounds. Nothing to worry about."

"Okay, whatever you say…" Calli said, sitting down nervously. Mike was still down onstage, lip syncing along with the words as he stood behind the recording station.

"Hey, wait a second…The Midnight Riders lip synced?" Sam exclaimed with dismay. "Oh, whatever, they're music's awesome anyway!" The concert went on for a while, and once the song was over, everyone gathered down in front of the stage.

"Well, looks like it's sundown," Boomer said, looking over at the sun sinking slowly below the horizon. "We should head back now."

"Hey, hang on, where are Clawer and Witch?" Taunter asked. Everyone looked around, but Clawer and Witch were nowhere to be found.

"We can find them on the way out," Smoker said, and the group began to proceed towards the entrance. And sure enough, they found the two of them near the entrance.

"How come you guys didn't come to the concert?" Sam asked.

"Neither of us really like loud noises," Clawer replied. "I was thinking about going over and smashing the speakers, but I didn't want to ruin all of your fun."

"So, did everyone have fun?" Boomer asked. There was a general answer of variations of "yes", all except for Tank, who for some reason really didn't seem to like Kiddy Land. "Well, let's head back, okay?"

"And boy, is Hunter going to be in for it when we get back there!" Calli laughed, pulling out a can of paint.

"Yeah, right," Hunter blew her off.

"Trust me, you'll be sorry~"

"Uh-huh. We'll just have to see about that…"

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I added in a haunted house just for fun. :P Oh no I just remembered now that I forgot the carousel and the bumper cars! D: Oh well! :o Oh, dang it, I forgot the slides, too! D: I guess it's okay… ^^; Lol and since I didn't have the survivors in this chapter, I put a reference to Ellis in the title. XD Anyway, time for the question of the chapter! It's another situation question!

Okay, so, how about this? Your Infected is walking along the streets all casual and stuff, when suddenly, they see a bundle on the ground. They go up to take a closer look, and…omg, it's a survivor! But it's just a baby! Okay, so, we Infected usually kill survivors, right? But this one is just a baby, and it's looking up at you with it's big huge cute puppy-dog baby eyes! Do you bring it back to the alley, kill it on the spot, or what? It's all up to you! O_O


	19. Babysitting: Not For the Faint of Heart

I seriously can't believe that next chapter is the last chapter! Wow! Well, anyway, I also can't believe how long these chapters are getting. XD Anyway, as always, I hope that you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 or the characters in Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC, the personalities that I have given to the already existing special infected, and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. Coheed17 owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

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It was a perfectly normal day. Or at least, as normal as the days got. Hunter and Smoker had been picked to go on scout duty to see if the survivors were nearby, so they were the only two absent from the alley. Everyone else was either talking or finding other ways to entertain themselves. And before they knew it, they could hear the two scouters coming back, though they sounded like they were arguing over something or other. And Smoker was carrying a bundle of some sort.

"We can't bring it back here, Smoker!" Hunter was saying. "I mean, it's just…it's just weird!"

"We can't just leave it there," Smoker disagreed. "I mean, _I'm_ not going to leave it there. If you don't want it here so bad, why didn't you just do something about it when it was back on the street?"

"What's up, guys?" Taunter asked, looking curious as she approached them. "What are you talking about?"

"And what are you carrying?" Calli asked from across the alley.

"Ohh, nothing," Smoker shrugged.

"Come on, let me see," Taunter came a bit closer to get a better look. "Hey…oh my God!"

"What, what?" Calli ran over, and a few of the others began to flock over as well. "What is it?"

"Sh, not so loud," Smoker said quickly.

"Well? What is it?" Calli repeated.

"Well, here's what happened," Smoker started to explain. "We were on duty, and all of a sudden, we see this survivor lady running down the street. She's not one of the four that we keep on seeing, and she was alone, and without a weapon, so we decided to just go get her, right? Well, of course, Hunter had pounced her before I had the chance to even get off the building. And when I got down there, the lady was dead or whatever, and she had dropped this bundle thing. And it was…well, it was making noise. It's…Uhh…" Smoker paused, then showed the bundle to everyone in the alley. "It's a baby." Everyone was thoroughly surprised by this, and anyone who hadn't been clustered around before came to look.

"Why'd you bring it back here?" Sam asked.

"Well, we couldn't just leave it in the street," Smoker replied.

"But…aren't we supposed to kill survivors?" Mike said after a short pause.

"But it's a baby!" Smoker answered quickly. "Would _you_ kill a baby?"

"Well, no…"

"I'm still not so sure what to do with it," Smoker admitted. "I mean, what do we do? Wait 'til it grows up, _then_ kill it? That's not gonna work. I guess that we're going to have to take care of it."

"No, Smoker, we can't," Hunter spoke up. "I mean, it's noisy, squishy, smelly…really, really smelly."

"Yeah, it is pretty smelly," Sam agreed.

"Is it asleep now?" Calli asked.

"Yeah, it fell asleep on the way here," Smoker told her. "I don't really know what it's gonna do when it wakes up, though. I mean, you'd think it'd be pretty scared of us, right?"

"Hm…true," Boomer nodded. "Which one of us here looks the most like a survivor?" There was a general pause of looking around.

"I think that Taunter does," Calli said after a moment.

"Who, me?" Taunter asked in surprise. "Uh…thanks? I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or not."

"Oh well. Go ahead, take it," Smoker held out the sleeping baby awkwardly. "I don't want to hold it anymore."

"What are you afraid you'll break it or something?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, actually."

"Well, okay, I guess I'll hold onto it for now," Taunter mumbled, taking the baby. "Am I holding this thing right?" Nobody really seemed to know exactly how to hold it, so she just went on holding how she was already.

"Hey, wait," Calli said suddenly. "Hunter, you said that it was noisy. It's all quiet now."

"Just wait 'til it wakes up," Hunter said as proceeded into the alley. I do _not _want to be around when that thing wakes up."

"Well, let's just put it on the bed then, and then it won't wake up," Taunter said, placing the baby down onto one of the mattresses. "There. Easy."

"Well, we've got to watch it, right?" Boomer asked.

"All day?" Taunter said in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Well, yeah. All day. It's a baby. What do you expect?"

"Uhh…I dunno."

"Well, let's just leave it there for now and see what happens," Calli shrugged. "I mean, it can't be that bad, right?"

…...

It was a little while later when a small noise was heard in the alley.

"Huh? What was that?" Mike asked, looking up from what he had been doing.

"Hey, it's the baby," Taunter said, going over to where the baby lay.

"It's gonna start crying," Hunter warned them.

"It's not gonna start crying," Calli blew him off, joining Taunter near the baby. "Hey, there-" Calli was cut off when the baby all out started wailing as soon as it was fully awake.

"Told you so," Hunter said before escaping to the roof. Anyone else who could access the roof did the same thing. Nobody wanted to be near the baby wailing inside the alley. Those ground bound tried to figure out what to do.

"Huh? What? Why's it crying?" Calli said, backing up a step.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Smoker said quickly pacing around the alley and trying to figure out what to do about the crying.

"I should have known that this would happen," Taunter said, letting out a little nervous laugh. "I have no idea what to do!"

"I've got no idea either," Boomer added, coming out of the safe room as Jeffry ducked inside, away from the noise.

"Great, we've only had it for an hour and it's already crying!" Smoker said, seeming to be either really irritated or really worried. Though it was hard to tell, especially with him moving around so fast. "What are we supposed to do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" came a voice, and they all turned to see Clawer sitting at the end of the alleyway.

"What's obvious?" Calli asked.

"It's hungry," Clawer replied. "And if it's not hungry, then it's thirsty, or it's got a dirty diaper or something. Either that or it just wants you to hold it."

"…How do _you_ know all this?" Boomer asked after a pause. Clawer shrugged and said something incoherently.

"Oh well, he knows how to fix it," Smoker cut in quickly, then picking up the baby. "Well, it's still crying, even though I'm holding it…Uhh…" He paused, then quickly thrust it out at Taunter, who took it from him.

"Geez, you could hold it for ten seconds," she said to him.

"I'm going to drop it if I hold it!" he objected. "Now let's go to the food store and find that baby some food!"

"Alright, alright, wait for us!" Calli shouted as she and Taunter followed after Smoker as he dashed off towards the food store. "You're acting weird! Have you been eating those pills that are laying around again?"

…...

"Here's the baby food," Smoker said after finally locating the correct aisle. "Alright, let's see…well, I think it's baby food at least…"

"Looks mushy enough to me," Taunter shrugged, still holding the crying baby. "Let's just feed this thing already."

"What if it's really salsa or something?" Calli asked.

"Here, use this green one, then," Smoker said, not wanting to feed the baby salsa.

"That might be guacamole."

"But orange and green are the only colors here!"

"Whatever, we need it. Guacamole is fine," Taunter took the green bottle of mush. "How do I open this thing?" Calli took the bottle, and tried to pull the top off, to no avail.

"Let's go find Tank," Smoker suggested. "He can pull the top off."

"Right, let's go," Taunter agreed, and the three of them hurried out of the store, the baby still wailing up a storm.

…...

"Okay, _what_ is that noise?" Tank was heard calling before they even turned the corner and found him.

"It's a baby," Taunter replied.

"…Why in the heck do you have a baby?"

"We just do. Can you open this?" Smoker held the bottle up to Tank, who rolled his eyes and took it.

"Why do you need me to open it?" he asked.

"Because the baby will keep crying otherwise," Calli replied. "And none of us can open it."

"Alright, alright, I'll open it," Tank gave the bottle's lid a light tug, and it came open easily. He paused for a moment. "…The baby is still crying."

"Here, give it back to us," Calli reached up and took the bottle, then held it out to the baby. "Here you go. You can stop crying now." Calli's smile soon turned down into a frown as the baby didn't do anything except cry, even when the bottle was near enough to it that it could reach out and get the food.

"It's not working?" Smoker asked.

"It's not working," Calli affirmed.

"Well, I'll just be going now…over there," Tank said, going away as quickly as he could, not wanting to be near the squishy looking crying thing.

"It won't take the food?" Taunter asked.

"Let's go back and ask Clawer what we need to do with this stuff," Calli said, and the three of them headed back to the alley.

…...

"…You're kidding, right?" Clawer asked them bluntly as they all stood before him.

"Well, the baby just won't take the food," Calli shrugged. Clawer sighed, making a face that said "you're missing something" or something like that.

"Fine, come with me," he said, and then turned off into one of the back alleys. They followed him until they finally reached his basement, the one that Calli and Smoker had discovered during the detective caper. Once inside, Clawer walked over to one of the cabinets, then started rooting through the drawers for a little while. "Here we go." He pulled a spoon out of one of the drawers, and held it out to them.

"…What do we do with that?" Taunter asked.

"Are you serious?"

"Uhh…yeah. I'm serious."

"Just put the baby down onto the couch," Clawer sighed again, and Taunter placed the baby down onto the couch. Calli handed him the bottle of food, knowing that he probably knew what to do.

"Alright, now look," he told them. "You're going to need to know how to do this, so pay attention. You have to use the spoon to put the food into the baby's mouth. Like this." He demonstrated, and as soon as the baby got some of the mush into it's stomach, it stopped crying.

"Whoa! That's amazing!" Smoker exclaimed. "You got it to stop crying!"

"Well, yeah. It's not that hard," Clawer said, unable to believe how bad at this care stuff the other three were. Once the baby had had a full meal, it seemed happy enough, and Taunter picked it up again.

"Well, thanks," she smiled. "We'll ask you again if we need any more help."

"Aw, we'll be fine," Calli grinned. "Let's go back."

…...

It was later on when a strange smell began to float through the air. At first it was just weird. Then it really began to stink. Then, the baby started crying again.

"Huh? What is it this time?" Taunter asked. "And does anyone else smell that?"

"Yes, we smell it!" came a choking shout from Hunter, and Taunter turned to look at the rest of the alley. While the Infected without great senses of smell seemed just a little bit bothered, Valery seemed more disturbed than the others, while Jeffry was as far back into the safe room as he could get, and Hunter and Sam were on the ground gagging.

"Get rid of it! Get rid of it!" Sam managed to choke out.

"We're dying here!" Hunter added. "Hurry up and take it away!"

"Where to?" Taunter asked.

"Anywhere but here!"

"Okey dokey," Taunter quickly grabbed up the baby, carrying it out into the street. "Ew, it's wet!"

"It needs its diaper changed," Clawer called over the veritable choking in the alleyway.

"How do I do that?" Taunter asked. "And where am I going to find extra diapers?"

"Let's start with the diapers," Smoker said, joining her on the street. "There's probably some at the store. Calli, are you coming?"

"But I wanna watch Hunter be choking and stuff!" Calli called, pouting.

"I resent that!" Hunter managed to say before the smell in the air made him gag again.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," Calli said, coming out onto the street. "Let's go."

…...

"Are these things diapers?" Taunter asked, holding the package out to Clawer when they returned.

"Yeah," Clawer nodded. They made their way back to his basement, and back inside. "Now, this part might get kind of disgusting. For both sight and smell."

"Just how bad will it smell?" Calli asked. Clawer paused, trying to estimate an answer.

"Let's just say that…" Clawer paused for a moment as he thought. "Let's just say that if Hunter were here at the moment we do it, he would probably die from the smell alone."

"Oh," the other three said together, holding some degree of foreboding. Clawer had to grin at their slightly nervous faces.

"Anyone weak of heart might want to leave," he chuckled. There was a pause.

"Guess I'm out, then," Smoker mumbled, leaving the basement.

"…I wonder if he's serious, or if he's just ditching us," Taunter said after a pause.

"Smoker! Come back inside!" Calli called, chasing him out the door.

"Uh…so, are we going to change it's diaper or what?" Clawer asked. "I mean, I know that I'm not the only one who doesn't like to see babies cry. Or hear them, for that matter."

"Well, okay…" Taunter said, putting the wet baby down onto the table. "How do we do this?"

"Well, take off the old one, first."

"…Take it off?"

"Yeah. Take it off."

"Uhh…"

…...

"Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew," Taunter carried the bulging wet diaper out of the door, and up the steps to wear the trashcan was, passing Calli and Smoker along the way, and letting out the occasional edgy laugh. She tossed it into the trashcan quickly, then retreated away. "I am never, EVER doing that again!"

"Was it terrible?" Smoker asked her, wondering what the experience of changing a diaper was really like.

"Super duper terrible," Taunter nodded. "And you guys ditched me in there!"

"For the record, I was trying to get Smoker to come inside," Calli laughed a bit. "He's too 'weak of heart' to change a diaper, apparently."

"Doubt it," Taunter sighed. Smoker shrugged.

"The baby is done," Clawer called from the bottom of the steps, coming out of the door holding the baby.

"Thanks," Taunter said, coming down the steps and taking the baby.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that you guys can take care of it now," Clawer said. "I mean, now if it cries, it either wants a nap or attention."

"Once again," Smoker cut him off. "Why do you know all this?"

"No reason," Clawer mumbled.

"Anyway, let's take the baby back to the alley before it starts crying for a nap," Taunter said, and all of them began on their way back.

…...

The baby had fallen asleep, just as they had thought that it would. Everyone had come back down into the alley now that it was quiet and stench free.

"Man. This sure seems like a lot of work," Hunter grumbled. "And for a survivor, too. Still, it _is_ just a baby, I guess…"

"We sure can't take care of a baby," Taunter shook her head, looking down at the peacefully sleeping baby. "I mean, we just can't do it. We've got no idea. Other than Clawer."

"Why does he…?"

"Never mind. Either way, we can't take care of this baby."

"But where are we supposed to take it?" Hunter asked. A gunshot suddenly rang through the air, coming from somewhere else in the city. Then, scattered gunfire.

"I know who we can give it to," Taunter said after a pause.

"Who? Those survivor guys we keep seeing?" Hunter said in surprise. "If we even get near those guys, they'll shoot us full of bullets! Let's find some survivors who don't have guns."

"There aren't any ones that don't have guns," Smoker said from across the alleyway.

"But you can't just bring it over to them, you'll get shot," Hunter continued to attempt to convince Taunter otherwise.

"Hmm…maybe," Taunter glanced around the alley and outside onto the street. She walked over to a pile of dead Commons, then pulled a rain slicker off of one. "If I wear this with the hood up, maybe they'll think that I'm a survivor long enough for me to give them the baby."

"But they'll try to talk to you," Hunter said, unable to sway Taunter from her opinion. "We can't talk to survivors, much less pretend to be them."

"He's right, you know," Smoker added.

"Yeah, I hate to admit it, but it _does_ sound pretty dangerous," Calli agreed.

"Well, I have to try, at least," Taunter pulled on the rain slicker, pulling up the hood. She knew that she was being stubborn. She knew that she was stubborn a lot. But frankly, she didn't care. "I'll just bring them the baby, then get out of there." She walked over to where the baby lay, and picked it up carefully. It remained asleep, but was smiling faintly. "Yeah, I've got to bring this baby to the survivors. They'll know how to take care of it." She adjusted her grip on the baby, then started out of the alley.

"They're going to _shoot you_!" Hunter repeated, putting emphasis on the last two words. Taunter didn't stop as she left the alley. Hunter looked back at the rest of the alley, searching for help in stopping her. "Somebody stop her already!"

"I don't think that we _can_ at this point," Boomer shrugged. "Do you want to go with just to make sure that she's okay?"

"Yeah, I will," Hunter said after a moment, then followed after Taunter as she went down the street, towards the sounds of gunfire. "Hey, wait up!" Smoker couldn't help but smile and chuckle a bit. There was a short silence.

"Are you sure that they'll be okay?" Jeffry asked quietly, coming out of the safe room a bit.

"Oh, they'll be fine," Smoker shrugged, lighting a cigarette. "If I know either of those two, they'll come back without a single scratch."

"I sure hope so."

…...

"You can't be serious about this," Hunter said as the two of them were walking. "I mean, really? They'll shoot you on sight. The last group of survivors that was here shot at us when we didn't even try to get them."

"Hunter, you know as well as I do that this baby will be better off with them," Taunter replied.

"So, why can't you just leave it somewhere where they'll find it?"

"We can't do that, they might not notice it. It just wouldn't work that way."

"But you can't just walk out right in front of them!"

"Why do you not want me to go so badly?" Taunter stopped for a second, looking at Hunter. He stopped too, seeming to be thinking.

"Well, it's just…" he paused. "I'm just…I'm worried, okay? Geez." He turned away quickly and continued walking. "You wanted to bring the baby over there, right? Let's go." Taunter paused, looking at him for a moment.

"You were worried about me?" she asked, catching up with him. "How come?"

"I just was, okay? I mean, I would be worried about anyone being shot up with a gun, right?"

"You didn't seem very worried about Tank when he got all shot."

"Well, he's…he's just Tank. That's different."

"Whatever you say. Let's just keep going."

…...

"Did we get 'em all?" Coach asked, scanning the area quickly.

"Looks like it," Nick nodded. "Let's get out of here."

"Hey, wait," Ellis said quickly.

"This is no time for one of your stories, Ellis."

"No, no, look in that alley over there!" Ellis pointed into one of the alleys off of the street that they were standing on. The other three peered into the alley, seeing two figures coming closer, one of them seeming more reluctant than the other.

"Hello?" Rochelle called.

"Hang on, one of them is a Hunter," Coach said, backing up.

"What's that one up in front holding?" Ellis asked, risking a step closer.

"Ellis, don't go closer, let's just go!" Nick said, he and the other two beginning to try to find a way of escape. "Just shoot them and be done with it!"

"But they're not running at us like the other ones. And the Hunter's not even growling or anything. Plus, that one in front is holding something."

"I don't care, Ellis. Let's go!" Nick shouted. The two Infected in the alley reached the entrance, and stopped. Ellis took a step closer, his curiosity overcoming him.

"Ellis, don't go any closer!" Rochelle warned him. The Infected began to come out of the alley, and Coach quickly grabbed his shot gun, aiming it straight for the Hunter. "Ellis get out of there!" The Infected stopped, and exchanged a glance, making a few noises as if communicating. The Hunter stepped back into the alley slowly, and the other one took another careful step forward. Coach lowered his shot gun a bit at seeing the Hunter step back. It wasn't even crouching. And the other one, who was wearing a rain slicker, was holding out a bundle of some sort, keeping it out in front of itself with every step.

"I think that it wants to give us something," Ellis murmured.

"Like what?" Nick asked with a humorless laugh. "I don't care what it wants to give us, Ellis, let's either shoot it or go!" The one in front stopped at hearing Nick shout, looking unsure of what to do. It put the bundle down onto the ground, then went back into the alley, walking backwards so that it could still see them. Once it was inside the alley, it turned around and high tailed it out of there. The Hunter glanced back at them once, then followed the other Infected.

"What is this anyway?" Ellis asked, going over to the bundle and picking it up. "Holy shit! Guys, it's-"

"Let me guess, something having to do with Kiddy Land?" Nick cut him off.

"No, it's a baby!"

"A baby?" Rochelle said in surprise, and she and the other two came over to take a look. And just as Ellis had said, there was a baby cradled in his arms.

"Is it infected?" Coach asked.

"Looks pretty healthy to me," Rochelle said, seeing the fleshy pink color of the baby's skin. "Looks totally fine."

"Well, we've gotta keep it, right?" Ellis asked.

"Yeah, of course," Rochelle nodded.

"Yeah, we have to," Coach agreed.

"No," Nick said, surprising them all. "If it cries, it'll attract the horde!"

"Well, Nick, you can either bring it along or leave it here to be eaten," Ellis gave Nick his two options. "I mean, I know which one I would choose. What's it gonna be?" The other three all looked at Nick expectantly. Nick sighed, knowing that he wouldn't want to leave the baby there either.

"Fine, we can bring it with," he said after a moment of pause. "But if it cries, the horde will be your problem!"

"Alright. Now, let's go find a place to bunker up for the night," Coach said, and the four of them started off down the road, Ellis carrying the bundled up baby as carefully as he could.

…...

"Didn't I say that they would try to shoot us?" Hunter asked as he and Taunter walked back to the alley.

"Well, they didn't did they?" Taunter smiled. "And plus, that baby is going to be a lot happier now."

"Yeah, I guess that's good. I won't be nearly killed by fumes anymore. Still…you know, if we ever manage to actually get those guys, that baby is going to be a problem again."

"Well, let's not worry about that now," Taunter replied. "For now, let's just focus on the good stuff."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Hunter managed a smile as they continued their walk back. "Sounds good to me."

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Lol I just have a few notes down here. XD I can tell you all that even though this story is set during Left 4 Dead 2, the physical designs for Hunter, Smoker, Boomer, Tank, and Witch are the ones from Left 4 Dead (the first one) with just a few personal tweaks (such as the fact that Smoker is a blonde :P) I just like their older designs better, for some reason. XD And let's see, notes on the chapter…Lol the last scene when they're giving over the baby, I realize now, is just like the last scene in the movie "Ice Age". XD Man I love that movie. :3 Also, I tried giving Clawer more of a part, since he had such a small part in most of the chapters! Anyway, are you guys excited for the finale chapter? :D I hope that you all have enjoyed the story through it's entirety! :3 Anyway, here's the question of the chapter! :D This is an easy one. ^^

Do you feel that throughout all of your Infected's experiences with everyone in the alleyway…have they become true friends with everyone? Maybe even BEST FRIENDS? Omg. XD Have they? :3


	20. Together

Well, guys, we made it. It's the last chapter. Man I actually feel sad about this. o_o But as I said, the sequel will be up soon! X3 And so, without further ado, please enjoy the finale chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 or the characters in Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own my own OC, the personalities that I have given to the already existing special infected, and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nikiu owns Valery. Coheed17 owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer.

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It was early morning. The sun was just rising up into the sky. Seemed just like every other day. Right up until everyone in the alley awoke to the sound of a helicopter.

"What's that noise?" Calli asked, looking up bleary eyed.

"I've heard that noise before. The last group of survivors escaped on something that sounded just like that," Hunter said, standing up.

"Which means that if we just sit here now, they'll get away," Smoker stood as well. "It's now or never, guys."

"Well, yeah, but those guys have the baby with them," Taunter frowned. "Can't we just wait until the next group of survivors comes around?"

"There might not be another group," Sam said, going out of the alley and looking down the street. "I can see them down the street now. If we're going to go get them, we have to go now. Let's take the rooftops, it's faster." Sam jumped up to the nearest roof, and started on his way down towards where the survivors were running towards where the helicopter was going to land.

"Roofs," Mike shook his head, laughing a little bit, then took off through one of the back alleys. Valery and Hunter both decided to go by way of roof as well, seeing as they could jump that high, and Claire went up to the roofs as well.

"We can go along the ground," Boomer said to those remaining in the alley. "Let's go."

…...

Soon enough, both the rooftop group and the group on the street had reached the area where the survivors were about to board the helicopter, beating off any Commons that got near them. The woman was holding the baby, and she handed it up to the pilot before getting in herself.

"Alright, the baby's in, now let's get 'em," Hunter said quickly, crouching. Still, he made no move to actually jump any of them.

"What are you waiting for?" Sam asked.

"Man, there's no good pouncing angles from here," Hunter muttered, coming out of his crouch.

"What are you talking about? It's a clear shot."

"Well then, why don't you do it?"

"Guys, this isn't the time to start an argument," Valery said quickly. Meanwhile, the group on the ground seemed to be having the same difficulties.

"They'll just shoot us if we get close anyway, right?" Taunter shrugged.

"That didn't seem to bother you yesterday," Boomer said with some degree of confusion.

"Well, yeah, but still…" Taunter mumbled back.

"Hey, what's with all the noise?" came a voice, and they turned, seeing Witch arriving from one of the alleys, crying, as always.

"The survivors are trying to get away," Clawer told her. The guy in the hat was on the helicopter now, too. And he was reaching out to help the one in the short sleeved shirt inside. "I mean, _I_ can't do anything here," Taunter said, trying to think of something they could do to keep the survivors from escaping. "Uh…Smoker, you can get at least white suit guy, right?"

"Hmm…too far away," Smoker said after a moment.

"Your tongue's not _that_ short."

"I think that we're all just feeling guilty about attacking them," Calli shrugged. "I don't know _why_ in the world we would be, but we are."

"It's because of the baby, isn't it?" Jeffry asked.

"Probably," Taunter sighed. Meanwhile, the rooftop group was still having trouble.

"Look, they're all on now," Claire pointed down towards the street, indicating the helicopter as the man in the white suit climbed inside. And then, the helicopter was suddenly taking off.

"Come on, we can make the jump from here, let's just get them before they leave," Sam said quickly.

"Are you kidding?" Hunter asked him. "_I'm_ not jumping on that metal deathtrap."

"Well, somebody has to!"

"Tank probably would," Valery spoke up.

"Hm…doubt it," Hunter shrugged. And yet, at that exact moment, they heard a loud clang, and turned only to see Tank clinging onto the helicopter as it began to fly overhead. "Oh. I guess he would then. How did he get up there anyway…?"

"Jump down before they shoot you," Claire called up to him. Tank seemed to be completely ignoring them, but soon enough jumped down to the rooftop where they were standing. This was probably due to the fact that three of the survivors had stuck guns into his face, out of the door of the helicopter.

"Well, at least you left a dent in the 'copter," Hunter said after Tank started to look irritated again.

"Last chance guys, it's about to fly away," Valery said, turning to the others on the roof.

"Ah, it's not worth it," Sam shrugged. "We'll just get shot anyway."

"Yeah, exactly," Hunter agreed with him. The Infected on the rooftop turned and watched the helicopter leave.

"Whoo! Oh yeah!" the baseball capped one was shouting. "We sure showed them! Yeah!"

"Well. I know that I'm going to regret this later," Hunter said after a pause. "Whatever."

"Hey, guys!" Claire called over the edge of the rooftop, looking down at the group on the ground.

"Yeah?" came a reply from Boomer.

"You guys wanna come up here?"

"Sure," Calli called up to the rooftop group. "We'll be up in a second! Come on, guys, let's use the stairs."

"Can't we use the elevator?" Boomer asked as they went inside the building. "Those stairs really do a number on me…"

…...

Soon enough, the group had gathered on top of the roof, and everyone was sitting, all of them in a big circle. Nobody really knew what to say in the face of this fact: The survivors were gone.

"So…what are we supposed to _do_ now?" Sam was the one who posed the question. "I mean, the survivors are gone, right?"

"Well, we've always found ways to fill up our time before, right?" Smoker asked with a shrug. "I mean, remember that one time when we had the scavenger hunt to find Tank's lower jaw?"

"…You did what?" Tank asked after a moment. "Did you find it?"

"Yeah, I found it," Claire nodded. "I don't remember where I put it, though."

"Oh. Great."

"You know, Smoker's right," Taunter agreed. "I mean, we've hardly ever actually chased the survivors. We mostly left them alone. I mean, sure, a lot of us came to the town looking for them, but when we all met and became friends, they just didn't seem to matter as much anymore."

"Do you remember that eight ball that I found?" Calli grinned.

"What happened to that thing, anyway?" Mike asked, and Calli shrugged.

"But seriously, we _have_ had a lot of fun, huh?" Valery smiled. "I mean, we went to the pool, told scary stories, we even had our own Olympics. How cool is that?"

"And then there was that time when you guys drank all that coffee! Boy, was that crazy!" Boomer laughed.

"And you can't forget that time when Smoker was a detective!" Calli chimed in. "And what about Kiddy Land? That was _really_ fun!" Everyone at this point was reminiscing, and the only one who looked a bit distracted was Jeffry.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Boomer asked him.

"Well, I was just thinking," he replied. "Now that…well, now that the survivors are gone…are we all going to go back to the cities we came from? Is everyone going to leave?" There was a pause, and everyone seemed to be thinking. Nobody had ever really thought about what they would do once the survivors were gone, after all.

"Well, I know that I'm not leaving," Taunter said confidently. "I've actually found a lot of friends here! I wouldn't leave this town for anything in the world, now."

"I don't think that I'm going to leave, either," Calli agreed. "I really like it here."

"Well, heck, I'm pretty sure that all of us are staying, right?" Sam asked. "Is there anyone who isn't?"

"Well…I _do_ have someone waiting for me in the other city. But…I can stay a bit longer I guess," Claire smiled.

"So, we're all in agreement, then?" Boomer asked.

"Yup, looks like it," Mike nodded.

"Seriously, this is really cool," Taunter giggled. "I had practically no friends back in the other town, but now I've got just about a million friends here!" There was a short pause.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I sure am glad that I found this place," Sam said, breaking the silence.

"I can double that!" Calli grinned.

"I think that we can all double it," Valery smiled lightly.

"Well, either way, we're glad to have you here in the town," Boomer told them all.

"It's not just 'the town' anymore," Taunter stood up, glancing out over the city. "Now, it's 'our town'. This is our town. All of ours." She paused. "Well, what are we waiting for? We don't have a hundred years, you know!" She grabbed Hunter, pulling him up on his feet.

"Where are we going?" he asked, somewhat surprised by being suddenly pulled up.

"Anywhere! I don't care! Let's go!" she ran across the roof, dragging the surprised Hunter along, and into the door to go inside and downstairs. "Let's go have some fun!"

"Hey, wait for me!" Valery called, getting up and following them. In a large clump, most of them began to exit the roof, off to find something fun to do. Calli paused, looking back at Smoker, who was still standing on the roof.

"Coming?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a second," he replied with a smile.

"Okay, see you there!" Calli went inside, following the rest of the group. "Hey, guys, wait up!" Smoker took in a deep breath of the clean air around him (or at least tried to before he started coughing again). He cleared his throat, then put a cigarette into his mouth, lighting it as he looked out upon the city.

"Hm…'our town', huh?" he asked, the cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth. "Well, I've got a feeling that this is going to be fun." He turned, making his way out through the door that the others had gone through just as the sun reached its highest point in the sky. And he was right. It was their town now. It always had been, and it always would be. They were all best friends, and this opportunity that they had been given would be exactly what they made of it. And there was only one thing left for them to do. And that was to live life to its fullest. The possibilities were, are, and will always be just one thing: Endless.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Awww nice ending. :3 And I'm noticing that with almost every chapter, either Hunter or Smoker gets the last word. ._. Lol maybe they just want attention. XD Oh well. X3 Anyway, thank you all SO MUCH for all of your support and such throughout the course of the story! I really really appreciate it! :3 The sequel is coming up next, so I hope that you're ready! Anyway, the OCs for the sequel have been decided on, and though we're losing one, we're gaining a few new faces, so please welcome them! X3 Even if they are going to be on the bad team lol XD Man, I can't thank you guys enough for loving the story so much! X3 None of my stories have ever been this loved before! ;w; Plus, this story has just been _so_ much fun to write, and you guys have made it all the better! ^^ I love you all! :D Well, anyway, time to draw this to a close, with our last question for this story. Here it is! :D

If your Infected could say something really meaningful about what's happened, what would they say? :3

Well, I'll see you guys in the sequel! X3 Akikazemoon out! :D


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